Women's Water Polo | February 4, 2023

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The La Salle women's water polo team opened its final day strong with a 9-6 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) before returning to the pool for a devastating 18-7 loss against host, Harvard.
 
The Explorers end the weekend with a 2-2 record.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (SAINT FRANCIS):

• Tatum Lomax opened up the scoring for the Explorers to put them up 1-0 over the Red Flash who responded with a two-goal run to take the 2-1 lead. Casey Malone lobbed it over the goalie into the top left of the net to tie the game, 2-2, followed by a goal in the final seconds from Shanna Zuanich to hand the Explorers a single-point lead heading into the second quarter, 3-2.
• A five-meter for the Red Flash early in the start of the second tied the game back up, 3-3, with 6:20 left in the half. Patience from Hannah Woren out front of the net pays off putting La Salle up again, 4-3, with three minutes remaining. Emma Gurasich came up big with a save in the final minute to maintain the Explorers a single-point lead heading into the half.
• The Explorers extended its lead to two, 5-3 early on to start the half. The Red Flash put up two with La Salle responding with a single goal to keep the single-point advantage, 6-5. Tatum Lomax fires a shot to the top right of the net to give La Salle a two-goal advantage, 7-5, with a minute left in the quarter.
• The La Salle offense held on scoring two more times in the frame while only allowing a single goal from the Red Flash for a 9-6 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (SAINT FRANCIS):

• Lomax led the Explorers' offensive efforts with four goals.
• Zuanich added two of her own while Woren, Madelyn Koerper and Malone all added one apiece.
• Whitney Wood was a key distributor of the ball with two assists alongside Gurasich with three.
• Malone helped to lead the defensive effort with a team-high two steals while Zuanich drew two exclusions.
• The Explorers won the sprint battle 3-1.
• Gurasich and Caitlin Valentine shared the time in the net. Gurasich made 15 saves and added four steals.

HOW IT HAPPENED (HARVARD):

• Harvard took a 3-0 run through the first six minutes stopped by a La Salle five-meter attempt from Francesca Co' who fired it into the back of the net to cut the deficit to two, 3-1. The Crimson earned its own penalty shot in the final seconds to pull back ahead by three at the end of the frame, 4-1.
• Harvard opened the scoring again in the second quarter in similar fashion with three unanswered goals until Co' converted once again capitalizing on the man-up advantage giving the Explorers their second goal and cutting the deficit to five, 7-2. Harvard responded almost immediately taking another 3-0 run out of the half for an eight-goal lead, 10-2.
• The Explorers momentum got rolling finding the back of the net four times in the start of the second half, but allowed five goals for the Crimson to trail 15-6 heading into the final eight minutes of the game.
• Harvard moved its advantage to double-digits pulling ahead 17-6 until Tatum Lomax fired a rocket past the goalie to keep it a 10-goal game, 17-7. The Crimson got the final say with one last goal in the quarter for the 18-7 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (HARVARD):

• Co' and Koerper led the offense each totaling three goals.
• Lomax added a single goal in the game.
• Claire Durham and Malone led the defensive efforts with two steals each.
• Gurasich made three saves and swiped two balls while Valentine made eight saves.
• Harvard won the sprint battle, 4-0.