Women's Water Polo | February 3, 2023
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The La Salle women's water polo team trailed behind Brown the majority of the game falling in a 10-4 loss before taking a clear advantage over Gannon in a 13-3 victory to split the first set of games at the Bruno Classic on Friday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED (BROWN):
- Brown took an early lead finding the back of the cage first quickly answered by Francesca Co' to tie it 1-1. The Bears went on a 2-0 run through the remainder of the frame to take a 3-1 advantage into the second quarter.
- Madelyn Koerper opened up the second quarter with a quick turnaround shot at the net to bring La Salle back within one goal, 3-2. A penalty shot for the Bears to follow put them back ahead by two, 4-2, and started a 3-0 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 6-4. Co' came up big for the Explorers with the response goal to cut the deficit back down to three, 6-3, at the end of the first half.
- The scoring was slow to start the third quarter with the Bears striking first to bring its lead back up to four, 7-3. Koerper answered the call yet again right out front of the net to cut it back to a three-goal game, 7-4, at the end of the quarter.
- Quick back-to-back goals for the Bears shifted the momentum to put the Explorers behind by five, 9-4, with still 6:45 remaining in the game. Brown added one more in the frame to walk away with the 10-4 win over La Salle.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS (BROWN):
- Co' ended the game with two goals. Her first goal of the game marked her 50th career goal.
- Koerper also ended the contest with two goals.
- The Explorers capitalized on just one of five power play opportunities while the Bears scored off three of its nine man-up advantages.
- Brown won all four sprints in the game.
- Emma Gurasich spent the entire game in goal totaling eight saves and adding two steals.
- Casey Malone led the defensive effort with a team-high three steals alongside Koerper with two blocks.
- Shanna Zuanich drew a team-high two exclusions.
HOW IT HAPPENED (GANNON):
- The Explorers offense was on fire starting with a six-goal run in the first quarter to take an early lead over the Golden Knights who managed to put one on the board before the end of the frame to cut the deficit to five, 6-1.
- Co' opened the second quarter connecting on her second successful five-meter of the game followed up two minutes later with a shot straight to the back of the net to put the Explorers up 8-1.
- A scoreless three minutes to start the second half was ended when Grace Smith connected with an open Hannah Woren to put La Salle ahead by eight, 9-1. Shanna Zuanich followed it up by finding the right corner from across the night to create a nine-point gap, 10-1. Gannon put up a single goal in the frame answered by the Explorers' Casey Malone to give La Salle the 11-2 edge going into the final eight minutes.
- La Salle's offensive momentum picked back up with Zuanich putting another ball in the back of the net for a hat trick just one minute into the final quarter creating a 10-point lead, 12-2. Ali Wagner extended the score to 13 for La Salle with her first career-goal. Gannon managed to put one more on the board to bring the final margin of victory for La Salle to 10, 13-3.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS (GANNON):
- Co' led the Explorers offense again with a game-high five goals. She also led the defensive effort with a game-high four steals.
- Zuanich ranked second in scoring with three goals.
- Casey Malone and Woren added two apiece while Wagner added one. Woren also added three steals in the game.
- The Explorers won all four sprints in the game.
- Gurasich and Caitlin Valentine split time in the net. Gurasich made two saves while adding one assist and one steal while Valentine also made two saves and added one assist.
- Paige Mitchell drew the only exclusion for the Explorers.
