Women's Water Polo | March 6, 2022

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 LA VERNE, Cali. – The La Salle women's water polo team increased its winning-streak to six with victories over Fresno Pacific (15-10) and Ottawa University at Arizona (20-12) on Saturday, Mar. 5 to finish out its campaign on the west coast. The Explorers record improves to 9-7 on the season.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (FRESNO):

• The Explorers got off to an early start in the first quarter to take a three-point lead over the Sunbirds into the second frame, 5-2.
• La salle put up a four-goal effort in the second stanza while holding Fresno to just one to extend its lead to six at the half, 9-3.
• The Explorers had another four-goal performance in the third while holding the Sunbirds to just two for the eight-point advantage to end the quarter, 13-5.
• The final quarter belonged to Fresno with a five-goal performance. La Salle put up two goals to keep a five-point difference to end the game, 15-10.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (FRESNO):

• Kalista Hyham was an offensive force in the game with a team-high five goals.
• Sarah DeFusco added three while Madelyn Koerper, Sophie Appler and Shanna Zuanich added two apiece. Tatum Lomax found the back of the net once.
• Emma Gurasich and Caitlin Valentine shared time in the net. Gurasich made seven saves and added a team-high three assists and four steals. Valentine made two saves and added one assist.
• Zuanich had the lone field block of the game for the Explorers.
• La Salle went 3-1 in sprints.

HOW IT HAPPENED (OTTAWA):

• Once again, La Salle jumped out to an early start to a take a 6-3 lead over the Spirit at the end of the first quarter of play.
• The Explorers held Ottawa to just a single goal in the second frame and extended its lead to six with four goals of its own, 10-4.
• The Spirit found the back of the net three times, but La Salle put up another six-goal effort in the frame to extend its lead, 16-7.
• The Spirit held the 5-4 edge over the Explorers in the final quarter, but couldn't overcome the deficit dropping the contest 20-12.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (OTTAWA):

• Hyham and Koerper were the leading goal scorers in the contest. Hyham put up a team-high four goals while Koerper added three.
• Appler, Zuanich, DeFusco and Madison Martinez totaled two goals apiece and Karle Linden and Sophia Boettner put up one each.
• Martinez led the defensive effort with a team-high five steals. She and Lomax each totaled three assists while Hyham put up a team-high four.
• Ali Wagner had the lone field block in the game.
• Gurasich and Valentine shared time in the net once again. Gurasich made three saves and added three assists and four steals. Valentin made one save in the game.
• La Salle went 1-3 in sprints only winning the second frame race.

UP NEXT:  

• The Explorers return home for a four-game series against opponents Mercyhurst, Salem and Gannon at Kirk Pool on Saturday, Mar. 12 and Sunday, Mar. 13.