Women’s Water Polo Earns First Win of the Season

Camden Wright Staff Writer

Villanova’s women’s water polo team had a commanding 18-8 win over Mercyhurst this past Saturday, February 4th. This is the Wildcats’ fi rst win in their 25-year commemoration season of water polo becoming a varsity sport at Villanova in 1998.

Villanova started off strong with a quick goal in the fi rst 40 seconds scored by sophomore Emily McKenzie, which was followed by a goal from sophomore Amelia Baca less than a minute later. Mercyhurst attempted to respond to the Wildcats’ fi re, but missed its fi rst two shot attempts. Further into the quarter, a penalty on Mercyhurst gave Villanova a power play advantage that senior Emily Morrissey scored on, bumping up the lead by another goal.

Starting the second quarter off with a 5-2 lead, Villanova was quick to get play going again with a goal in the fi rst 20 seconds. On the other end of the pool, the Wildcats continued to portray a united front with strong defense, led by freshman Gracin Kerry. Kerry started the game in the net for the ‘Cats in her fi rst college appearance, making 11 saves and allowing just three goals, a 79% save rate.

Abigail Shelby closed the game as goalie and her numerous saves also helped the team’s defensive dynamic to remain positive, especially in the last few minutes of the game.

Coach Larry Sanders was excited about the “great team eff ort and win.”

“The team played some great team D to start the game and that showed with the halftime score being 10-3,” Sanders said. Villanova continued the theme of quick goals to start each quarter by racking up two more at the beginning of the third to further its lead to 12-3. While Mercyhurst scored to make it 12-4, its eff orts were no match for a stellar Wildcat defense, which helped to lead Villanova into the fourth quarter up seven goals.

Mercyhurst got to within 13-7 at the beginning of the fi nal quarter, but Villanova quickly responded with two quick goals from senior Allie Hansen and junior Stella Byles. This was Hansen’s only goal, but she supported the team with fi ve assists, the highest overall points total for the ‘Cats.

McKenzie continued to be a crucial component of the team’s win, scoring a behind the back goal that earned her a career high fi ve goals in the game. This goal also moved the team to a 16-8 lead with little time left in the game.

A missed shot by Mercyhurst with three minutes left in the game allowed Villanova to act quickly and to rack up two more quick goals. These goals serve as a prime example of Villanova taking advantage of their improved off ense with a 50 shooting percentage this game, as opposed to the overall 20.5 percentage the team faced last weekend.

Villanova will return to the pool next weekend at the Bucknell Tournament in Lewisburg, PA. The Wildcats will take on Salem and Princeton on Saturday, Feb 11th, and will close out the weekend against Bucknell on February 12th.