Women's Water Polo | February 9, 2020

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Women's water polo (3-4) split its final day of the Bison Invite on Sunday, falling to Mercyhurst (1-3) in the morning before picking up an overtime win against LIU (2-6) in the evening. Junior Sarah DeFusco led the way with nine goals and three assists over the pair of games, while freshman Shanna Zuanich impressed with five goals and two assists.
 
Mercyhurst 13, La Salle 12
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Lakers recorded the first two goals of the game, after which DeFusco got La Salle on the board. Mercyhurst responded with another pair of strikes to make it 4-1 after the first.
• The teams traded goals twice to make it 6-3 before Mercyhurst rattled off two straight to open up a five-goal lead. Zuanich then scored her first collegiate goal, proceeded by the Lakers scoring two of the next three. 
• The Blue & Gold faced an uphill battle trailing 10-5 at the half. That deficit only deepened when Mercyhurst found the opening goal in the third. Junior Madison Martinez scored her second of the game, the Lakers responded, and La Salle finished off with two straight to end the quarter.
• Zuanich started the fourth on fire, netting twice to earn her hattrick and bring La Salle within two. A DeFusco strike narrowed the deficit to a goal, but Mercyhurst pushed the lead back to a pair with 1:53 remaining. DeFusco responded to bring the Explorers on the verge of the comeback yet again, but an equalizer couldn't be found.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Freshman Watch: Zuanich had quite the breakout game with a hattrick, an assist, four exclusions earned and a block. Fellow rookie Sophie Appler also played a big part with a team-high four assists, two goals, a steal and an exclusion earned. Not to be outdone, Casey Malone scored once, assisted twice, tallied a team-high three steals and drew one kickout.
• DeFusco paced the Explorers with four goals, adding two assists and a steal.
• Martinez was the other player to get on the board with a brace, while also recording three exclusions earned and a steal.
• In net, Emma Gurasich made the most of her time with four saves on six shots, two assists and a steal.

La Salle 10, LIU 8
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first half was a low scoring affair. The two teams split the opening quarter 1-1 befoe the Shark managed to narrowly outscore La Salle 2-1 in the second.
• La Salle managed to score more goals in the third quarter than they did the first two combined, going on a 3-1 run to retake the lead.
• With the Explorers holding a precarious 5-4 advantage, LIU managed to score three of the five goals in the fourth and force overtime.
• The Blue & Gold rallied to take the first period of extra time, 2-1, and extend its lead to 9-8. The team tightened up defensively in the sixth, scoring once to win 10-8.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• DeFusco elevated her scoring exploits in the second game of the day, notching a team-best five goals. She also added an assist to her stat line.
• Zuanich remained consistent on the day, netting a brace and an assist.
• Fellow freshman Caitlin Valentine came up huge in net for the Explorers, tallying 11 saves on 19 shots faced.
• Junior Jillian DeLisle and sophomore Madelyn Koerper accounted for the rest of the offense, combining to score three goals and assist two.

UP NEXT

• The Explorers will get another shot at Mercyhurst next weekend when they take on the Laker Invite. They'll face Salem and McKendree on Saturday, followed by Mercyhurst and Gannon on Sunday.