Women's Water Polo | February 2, 2024

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Explorers women's water polo will hit the road for the first time this season to compete in the Bruno Classic. They will play in four contests this weekend starting against Pomona Pitzer and Saint Francis U on Saturday and finishing the weekend against Harvard and Austin College.
 
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SCOUTING THE EXPLORERS:

• La Salle is coming off of a strong opening performance last Friday against Mercyhurst, topping the Lakers 18-9 after a strong second half performance.
• Throughout the entirety of the game, Francesca Co' was the biggest contributor on the offensive end of the pool. The junior added a handful of goals in the first half against the Lakers to help contribute to a close 8-6 lead at the break.
• The second half is where the contest favored the Explorers. The early stages remained close, with the Lakers tying the match up at eight, but that would be the only run they had the rest of the game.
• Co' helped jumpstart the offense in one of the 'flashier' ways anyone could see. The Italian found herself in front of the goalie with a defender in between them, but she avoided them both by spinning around, back to the goal, and connected for the score.
• Along with Co', Claire Durham, Tatum Lomax, Sofia Kolovou, Grace Smith, and Whitney Wood all contributed goals to the La Salle efforts, but perhaps one of the more surprising goals of the game game from freshman goalie Lily Kirby.
• Kirby made a defensive stand and as the teams were retreating to the opposite end of the pool, the goalie took a chance at a shot of her own that had just enough clearance to get past the Mercyhurst goalie.
• Co' led the team with six goals, followed by Smith, Kolovou, and Durham each notching two of their own.

SCOUTING THE SAGEHENS:

• Pomona-Pitzer opened the 2024 season last week at the Santa Barbara Tournament and came out of the weekend 1-1.
• The Sagehens first faced off against a MAAC team in Marist, coming out on top 13-12 thanks to four multi-goal performances. Brienz Lang scored two goals on seven shots for Pomona-Pitzer in the win.
• The following contest for the Sagehens did not fare as well, as they fell to UC Santa Barbara 2-10. Ayva Magna and Abigail Wiesenthal scored the only two goals for the Sagehens in that game.
• The contest will begin on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 9:00 a.m.

SCOUTING THE RED FLASH:

• Saint Francis University comes into this weekend after playing a gauntlet of an opening weekend, facing three ranked teams at the Michigan Invite.
• The Red Flash did not win on the weekend after losing to LIU, Michigan, Marist, and Indiana.
• The SFU defense had a hard time containing any of the opposing offenses last weekend, not being able to keep a team from scoring less than 16 goals in those four games.
• The best offensive showing of the weekend came against Indiana where the Red Flash scored nine goals.
• The contest will begin on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 3:00 p.m.

 
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON:

• This will be the opening weekend for Harvard in the 2024 season. The Crimson check in at No. 18 in the CWPA week-2 pool to begin the season.
• The all-time match ups between La Salle and Harvard have favored the Crimson as they are 4-0 in those contests.
• Last season the team's faced off twice with Harvard winning the first one 18-7 and the second one 13-9 in a much closer affair.
• The Explorers entered the final quarter of play all tied up at seven before the Crimson began to pull away.
• The contest will begin on Sunday, Feb. 4 at 9:30 a.m.

 
SCOUTING THE 'ROOS:

• This will be the first action of the 2024 season for Austin College as they compete at the Bruno Classic.
• The Explorers and 'Roos have never faced off before as this weekend will be the first meeting in either program's history.
• The contest will begin on Sunday, Feb. 4 at 12:30 p.m.