Women's Water Polo | April 2, 2021
PHILADELPHIA – #25 Women's water polo is set to host LIU on Saturday to kickstart a stretch of home games, the first of five in a row. Opening sprint is at 3 p.m. and will be streamed on the La Salle Athletics YouTube channel.
ABOUT THE EXPLORERS
- La Salle checks in at 25th in the nation in the latest weekly poll, sporting an overall record of 6-2 and a 1-0 mark in conference play.
- The Explorers began their MAAC slate with a 19-10 victory over VMI last weekend.
- That win continued the current hot streak for the Blue & Gold. The team has won its last four competitive matches -- five when including the exhibition at Villanova.
- Do-it-all DeFusco: Senior Sarah DeFusco paced the team on the offensive end with five goals and five assists against the Keydets. She now leads the team in goals (26) and assists (17), in addition to steals (14).
- Behind her 43 points are junior Maddy Koerper with 24 goals and 11 assists and senior Madison Martinez with 20 goals and 14 assists. Koerper tallied four goals and two assists against VMI.
- In net, sophomore Emma Gurasich is the reigning MAAC Defensive Player of the Week after a career outing of 12 saves and three steals last weekend. She and classmate Caitlin Valentine have both been steady in net this season with Gurasich tallying 46 saves on a .529 save percentage to Valentine's 48 saves on a .495 save percentage.
- Sophomore surge: Shanna Zuanich and Sophie Appler have impressed in their second year. Zuanich is coming off a six assist, two goal game, while Appler recorded a hattrick against the Keydets. The California native has posted 15 goals, 15 assists and eight kickouts drawn and the player from Pennsylvania has 13 goals, 15 assists and 11 steals so far.
SCOUTING THE SHARKS
- LIU began its campaign last weekend with a 15-7 win over Siena. It is scheduled to play Villanova on Saturday before coming over to La Salle.
- The Shark are in their second year as a program. The Explorers took the first-ever game between the teams last season, a 10-8 overtime result.
- In that opening game, sophomore Jessica Dean paced the Sharks with four goals, followed by freshman Diba Peiravini with a hattrick.
