ERIE, Pa. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) women’s water polo team finished up their weekend by the Great Lakes during Mercyhurst University’s Curtis Robinette Memorial Invitational with a game against Gannon University at The David M. Hallman III Aquatic Center. The Lyons fell in the contest against Gannon University, 22-7, despite a hat-trick from first year Toni Munguia (Temecula, Calif.).
The loss sees the Lyons fall to 0-8 on their campaign, while the Golden Knights improve to 3-6 on the year.
Munguia led the way for the Wheaton offense in their last game out in Erie, netting three goals and two assists for a five point day. First year Avary Guge (Winchester, Calif.) was right behind her teammate with a pair of goals and assists for a four point game. Sophomore Ryanna Ritting (Perkasie, Pa.) and first year Claudia Gagné (Orlando, Fla.) each netted a goal, while first year goalkeeper Anduena Kraja (Chicago, Ill.) made 14 saves.
Sophomore Carissa Jones and first year Maria Martinez led the way for the Golden Knights with four goals and an assist each. Junior Emma O’Gorman added a goal and four assists to match her teammates point total. Ganno’s sophomore goalkeeper Izabella Trunzo made 13 stops as the local side took the win.
First year Phoebe Puacz kicked off the scoring after two minutes had elapsed, but Guge equalized 100 seconds later with her fifth goal of the season. Jones and Martinez each scored to double the Knights’ advantage, before they rattled off three more goals to take a 6-1 lead into the second quarter.
Munguia scored to lead off the second quarter, putting her side within four, but back-to-back goals from Martinez and a third from senior Kerstyn Farley put the Lyons down further. Munguia found the back of the net again with 2:03 left in the second quarter and Kraja helped hold the defense to a 9-3 deficit at halftime.
The third quarter was the most prolific in terms of scoring of any in the game, as Gagné led off the half with her seventh goal of the season. The Golden Knights answered with six straight goals, including two from Jones. Ritting was able to score one for her side to put the brakes on the Gannon run, but Farley netted two more and hometown senior Molly Fehr scored to make it 18-5 for her squad. Munguia was able to slip her fourth and final goal past Trunzo with less-than 30 seconds on the clock to bring the Lyons up to 18-6 at the break.
The Wheaton defense was able to hold for nearly half of the fourth quarter, backed by Kraja between the posts and sophomore Isobelle Jennings’ (Leeds, U.K.) three total steals on the day. Two Gannon goals came around the midpoint of the quarter, but Guge was able to score her second of the game to make it 20-7. Two more scores for the Golden Knights closed out the game, and the Lyons fell to Gannon 22-7.
Release courtesy Wheaton College Athletics Communications
