Women's Water Polo | February 1, 2020
PHILADELPHIA – Women's water polo opened its season with a pair of wins on Saturday, defeating George Washington in the morning and St. Francis Brooklyn in an exhibition match in the evening. La Salle's junior class led by example on the day.
Sarah DeFusco paced La Salle in the first contest with five goals and one assist.
Madison Martinez, who tallied twice against the Colonials, would later score five against the Terriers. Many of those goals came from the pass of
Jillian DeLisle who totaled 10 assists across the two contests.
La Salle 12, George Washington 10
HOW IT HAPPENED
- DeFusco tallied twice, Martinez once and DeLisle also got in on the action as La Salle jumped out to a 4-0 lead through the first.
- The two teams went back and forth three times with the visitors scoring and the hosts answering back. Freshman Sophie Appler tallied her first career goal with 26 seconds remaining to put the Explorers up 8-3 at the half.
- The Colonials certainly made things interesting out of the break with four consecutive goals to cut the lead to one. A DeFusco double and an Appler strike pushed the advantage to 11-7 before George Washington got one back in the dying moments of the third quarter.
- The final frame transpired in a tightly contested fashion. DeFusco recorded her fifth of the match, followed by a late Colonials rally as the visitors scored twice inside the final 3:30 of the game. The Blue & Gold battened down the hatches, however, and a key save from freshman Caitlin Valentine with less than a minute on the clock preserved the victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Coming off of her Second Team All-Conference season, DeFusco once again showed the intent to be among the league's best. Six points and two steals highlighted an all-around performance.
- DeLisle also picked up where she left off. La Salle's leading provider from 2019 dished out four assists against the Colonials. She also scored once and picked up three exclusions earned.
- Martinez was the other highlight from the junior class as she tallied a brace and turned provider three times.
- Freshman impact: what a pair of debuts for Appler and Valentine. Appler impacted both sides of the ball with a hattrick and two steals. Valentine asserted her role between the sticks with nine saves on 19 shots faced, including the key save late in the game to keep George Washington at bay.
La Salle 16, St. Francis Brooklyn 8
HOW IT HAPPENED
- An exhibition match on paper, it certainly didn't appear that way in the water. Martinez scored the opening two goals, followed by a cagey back-and-forth where the teams traded goals three times. A late St. Francis score saw La Salle's lead diminish to one after one period of play, 5-4.
- The two teams split the second quarter 2-2 with Martinez opening the scoring again.
- The MAAC rivals traded strikes to start the third, proceeded by two straight goals from senior Katelynn Kubo to push La Salle's lead to 10-7. The Terriers countered, but the hosts had an answer via scores from junior Karle Linden and senior Racquel Jimenez.
- La Salle finished off the game with conviction in the fourth quarter, scoring four unanswered.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Catalyst Maddie: Four of Martinez's five goals in the game opened the scoring in various quarters. She also tallied two assists, three steals and two exclusions earned.
- Two other Explorers finished with multi-goal games against the Terriers. Kubo struck for a hattrick while sophomore Madelyn Koerper recorded a brace.
- DeLisle again orchestrated the offense to the tune of six assists.
- In addition to her one goal, Linden continuously gave the Explorers a numbers advantage with five exclusions earned.
UP NEXT
- The Explorers wrap up the La Salle Invite on Sunday with two more games. They face St. Francis again at 10:15 a.m., followed by an afternoon meeting with Salem at 2:15 p.m. Both games will be streamed on Facebook Live via the La Salle Athletics page.
