Women's Water Polo | April 2, 2022

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 PHILADELPHIA, PA. – The La Salle women's water polo team overcame an early 5-0 deficit to tie LIU twice in the second half, ultimately falling to the Sharks 12-11 before quickly bouncing back in a 16-12 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn, spearheaded by freshman Francesca Co', on Saturday night at Kirk Pool.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (LIU):

• LIU came out strong in the first period holding the Explorers scoreless through the entire eight minutes to take a 5-0 lead into the second frame.
• The Sharks had the first say in the second stanza yet again, but this time Madelyn Koerper and Shanna Zuanich were there to answer the call and put La Salle in the game with back-to-back goals cutting the deficit to four, 6-2. The Explorers held 2-1 advantage through the remainder of the period highlighted by a strong defensive effort from Emma Gurasich with back-to-back penalty-shot saves.   
• Zuanich closed the gap to two with an early goal in the third stanza, 7-5. The Sharks responded to pull back ahead by three, 8-5 with five minutes remaining. Koerper put La Salle within a single point of the Sharks, 8-7, with back-to-back goals with 3:21 remaining. LIU held the 2-1 edge through the rest of the period to take a 10-8 lead into the final stanza.
• A 2-0 run for the Explorers tied up the game, 10-10, with 2:26 remaining. LIU scored once again to maintain its lead, but was quickly met with a Koerper goal to tie it again, 11-11. With just 0:42 remaining the Sharks got a free shot on net to secure the 12-11 victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (LIU):

• Koerper was a shining star for the Explorers with a team-high five goals in the game.
• Zuanich added two goals while Tatum Lomax, Sarah DeFusco, Casey Malone and Kalista Hyham recorded one goal each.
• Co' led the team in assists with four followed by fellow rookie Lomax with three.
• Malone led the defensive effort from the field for La Salle with a team-high four steals.
• Gurasich recorded the entire 32 minutes in net making 13 saves adding four steals and one assist.

HOW IT HAPPENED (ST. FRANCIS):

• The Explorers were the first to strike, but a 2-0 spurt from the Terriers put them up 2-1 with five minutes still remaining. La Salle held the 2-0 advantage through the final 1:30 with the Terriers finding the back of the net to come back within one, 4-3. Francesca Co' had the final say for the Explorers to put them ahead 5-3 heading into the second period.
• La Salle took a 6-0 run through the 0:20 mark for an eight-point lead, 11-3. The Terriers managed to sneak one by Gurasich to bring the deficit to seven, but Co' had the final say with just 10 seconds remaining to put La Salle back up by eight to end the first half, 12-4.
• The squads remained even-strength, 1-1, until the 3:50 mark with the Terriers finding the back of the net to start a 3-0 run through the end of the period to cut the deficit to five, 13-8.
• St. Francis struck first, but a 2-0 run for the Explorers brought their lead back up to six, 15-9, until the Terriers put together a 2-0 run to cut it down to a four-point gap, 15-11, with 3:43 left on the clock. The teams traded goals through the final three minutes with La Salle ultimately coming out on top, 16-12.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (ST. FRANCIS):

• Co' dominated on offense with a team-high seven goals in the game.
• Zuanich contributed three while Koerper and Madison Martinez added another two apiece.
• Sophie Appler and Hyham each recorded a single goal in the game.
• Zuanich led La Salle in assists with six followed by Appler and Co' with three each.
• Co' was all over the pool also contributing defensively with four steals. Hannah Woren joined her with four swipes in the game.
• Gurasich totaled fives saves, five steals and one assist across the four periods.