Women's Water Polo | March 23, 2019

STATEN ISLAND –Women's water polo began Saturday with style. Their morning matchup with Siena came down to the wire, with La Salle emerging victorious, 11-10. Sophomore Sarah DeFusco and freshman Madelyn Koerper led the way for the Explorers with six points and four points respectively. La Salle later fell to nationally-ranked Wagner in their afternoon contest.
 
La Salle 11, Siena 10
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Saint and Explorers traded blows in the opening quarter. Siena took an early lead before DeFusco knotted things up at 1-1 midway through the first. The Saints took the lead again before DeFusco scored her second to level the score.
• La Salle jumped into a quick two-goal lead to start the second, both coming from the hand of DeFusco. Siena responded with two of their own before both teams went back-and-forth, locking the score at 6-6. In the final seconds of the quarter, the Saint took a one-goal lead.
• Siena extended their advantage via the powerplay before sophomore Karle Linden brought a goal back for the Explorers. The Saint scored shortly thereafter, only for freshman Madelyn Koerper to get on the board and keep the game within one.
• La Salle trailed 9-8 to begin the final quarter, but not for long. Junior Stephanie Morales netted on a penalty shot to level the affair. Then DeFusco came in clutch over a two-minute span, scoring twice to give La Salle an 11-9 advantage. Seconds later, Siena would score but the Explorers defended well and blanked the Saints for the remaining few minutes.

 INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• DeFusco paced the Explorers with six goals. Classmate Madison Martinez was the other Explorer to net multiple times with two goals.
• Koerper was joint-top provider for La Salle with three assists; sophomore Jillian Delisle and junior Jenny Fermaintt also dished out three
• Koerper also had a joint-high in exclusions earned with three. Linden also had three kickouts drawn to go along with a team-high two blocks.
• Fermaintt was key in keeping Siena in check. She recorded 12 saves on 22 shots for a save percentage of 54.5%.

 Wagner 26, La Salle 4
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Seahawks flew into a 6-0 lead in the first quarter before Martinez got one back for La Salle. Wagner then scored twice more to close out the frame.
• The nationally-ranked side then demonstrated why they're 15th in the nation by netting 10 unanswered in the second.
• In the third quarter, the Seahawks found the back of the net twice more before freshman Mary-Trese Squeglia scored for the Explorers. Wagner then responded with three more goals to close out the quarter.
• DeFusco and Koerper each netted once to make it 23-4. Wagner answered with a few more strikes to finish the game

 INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Linden led the team in points and block with two of each. Meanwhile, four different Explorers got on the score sheet.
• Martinez recorded the most steals with three, while freshman Charley Stricker paced the team in exclusions earned with three.
• Fermaintt and freshman Emily Rogers featured in goal for La Salle, with both goalies making two saves.

 UP NEXT

• La Salle has one more conference game this weekend in New York. They'll take on rivals Villanova on Sunday at noon.