Women's Water Polo | April 7, 2019

BROOKLYN – Women's water polo dropped two games on the second day of conference play in Brooklyn, falling to St. Francis Brooklyn 13-9 and Iona 17-9. Sophomore Madison Martinez paced the Explorers with 10 points, followed by classmate Sarah DeFusco with seven points. Junior Jenny Fermaintt spent the bulk of minutes in goal, recording 13 saves.
 
St. Francis Brooklyn 13, La Salle 9
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Terriers hopped out to a quick 3-0 lead halfway through the first. Martinez and junior Katelynn Kubo scored either side of another St. Francis goal to make it 4-1 after the first frame.
• La Salle would tie the game on two occasions in the second. They opened the period with two strikes to lock the score at 4-4. St. Francis would pull ahead, DeFusco would even the affair, but the Terriers struck late to nudge ahead by one at the halfway mark.
•  The Explorers kept up a steady pursuit of the Terriers in the third, answering every goal from the home side. St. Francis netted three times over the eight minutes, and after each goal La Salle responded with one of their own, making the score 9-8 heading into the final quarter.
• St. Francis resumed with play with two scores to put La Salle behind by three. With 2:32 remaining, sophomore Karle Linden brought the Explorers within striking distance, but the Terriers netted once more to put the game out of reach.

 INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• DeFusco was the high goalscorer in this game for La Salle, firing in four. Her goals, plus an assist, made her the joint-top-scorer, along with Martinez with two goals and three assists.
• Four Explorers were tied for the most exclusions earned, each with two: Kubo, Linden, sophomore Jillian Delisle and junior Stephanie Morales.
• Morales, Martinez and Delisle tied each other for the high in blocks in this game with two apiece.
• Fermaintt finished with 10 saves on 23 shots for a save percentage of 43.5%.

Iona 17, La Salle 9
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Martinez opened the game by scoring on either side of a pair of Iona goals, leaving the teams tied early on at 2-2. The Gaels would then rattle off two straight before Delisle closed the gap to one.
• DeFusco quickly tied up the game at 4-4, and although Iona tried to pull ahead, Delisle reeled them back in again with a score of her own. The Gaels would succeed in pulling away, to some degree, by scoring twice and go up by two. Morales netted to make it a one-game, but freshman Jillian Schultz struck twice for Iona to push the score to 9-6.
• The Gaels indeed succeeded in pulling further away in the third quarter, scoring twice on either side of a Martinez goal, elevating the score to 13-7. DeFusco would strike late in the period to get one back for the Explorers.
• Iona and La Salle began the fourth by trading goals before the Gaels netted two to put the game out of reach.

 INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Martinez netted a hattrick for the team high against the Gaels, followed by DeFusco and Delisle with two each to round out the Explorers with multiple goals. Martinez with two assists, and Delisle with three, shared the high in points with five each.
• Linden and DeFusco led the team in steal with two each, while freshman Madelyn Koerper was La Salle's top performer in the exclusions earned column with three.
• Fermaintt with three saves, and freshman Emily Rogers with two stops, split time in net.

 UP NEXT

• The Explorers are back at Kirk Pool as they host conference games on Saturday, April 13th. First, they'll play Villanova at 9 a.m., then Wagner at 1:30 p.m.