Women's Water Polo | April 16, 2023

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The La Salle University women's water polo team captured its third consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship berth with a pair of victories over conference rivals this weekend. After dropping the first match of Saturday to nationally-ranked LIU, the Explorers bounced back for a narrow 7-6 win over Villanova and rounded out regular-season play with a 14-7 triumph over VMI.

La Salle will be the sixth seed in the upcoming MAAC Championship, which will be held at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. on April 28-30.


HOW IT HAPPENED (LIU):

• The Sharks took an early three-goal lead over the Explorers putting up five in the first frame while holding La Salle to just two for the edge.
• The scoring was more even heading into the half with the Sharks converting three goals and the Explorers putting up another two to trail 8-4 after 16 minutes.
• LIU held the Explorers to just one goal in the second half while extending its lead with two-more goals for the 10-5 victory.
• Madelyn Koerper led the scoring for La Salle with three goals alongside Francesca Co', Grace Smith and Shanna Zuanich with one goal each.
• Claire Durham led the defense in the pool with four steals while Sofia Curtis drew a team-high two exclusions.
• Emma Gurasich and Caitlin Valentine shared time in the net recording four and three saves, respectively. Gurasich also added two steals in the game.

HOW IT HAPPENED (VILLANOVA):

• The Explorers offense jumped out to a hot start with a single-goal lead over the Wildcats after the first frame, 2-1, however the second period was all Villanova with a 3-1 advantage in scoring to take a 4-3 lead into the second half.
• La Salle rallied back coming out of the break with a two-goal frame holding the Wildcats scoreless for a narrow 5-4 lead. The teams each put up two in the final eight minutes with the Explorers coming out on top 7-6.
• Koerper led the scoring with five of La Salle's seven goals. Both Co' and Sophie Appler added a goal each.
• Co' led the team in assists with two and tied with Appler for most steals with three.
• Gurasich recorded eight saves and three steals in the game.

HOW IT HAPPENED (VMI):

• La Salle jumped out to a two-goal lead over the Keydets after the first eight minutes with the 4-2 advantage in the period. The Explorers put up another three goals in the half and held VMI to just one for the 7-3 lead at halftime.
• A huge third quarter for the Explorers with five goals put them ahead 12-3 heading into the final frame where VMI held the 3-2 advantage. The late scoring surge wasn't enough for the Keydets with La Salle walking away with the 14-6 win.
• Koerper once again was a scoring machine with six goals followed by Zuanich with four.
• Co', Smith and Hannah Woren added a goal apiece.
• Zuanich also led the team in assists with four while both Co' and Woren recorded a team-high five steals each.
• Valentine recorded 12 saves in the game.