BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Former Indiana University Hoosiers Jessica Gaudreault and Shae (Fournier) La Roche powered Canada to a dominating 20-11 defeat of New Zealand in the Szeged Tiszavirag Pool to claim Ninth Place at the 2022/19th Annual FINA World Championships hosted in Budapest, Hungary.
Canada concludes the championship with a 3-2-1 mark following a 7-7 tie versus Italy on Monday, June 20, a 22-2 defeat of Colombia on Wednesday, June 22, an 11-7 loss to Hungary on Friday, June 24, a 10-7 setback versus the Netherlands on Sunday, June 26 and a 19-11 dispatching of Kazakhstan on Tuesday, June 28, earlier during the 10-day event.
A 2019 graduate of Indiana and a current assistant coach at the University of Michigan, Gaudreault stopped six-of-eight scoring attempts during the first half. She turned away three-of-three action shots, three-of-four man-up opportunities and allowed a score off a center shot as Canada built a 9-2 lead by halftime. Clara Vulpisi took over in cage during the second half and stopped five-of-14 shots she faced.
Through six appearances at the championship, Gaudreault finishes the event with 39 saves on 73 shots.
La Roche – who scored once in the victory over Italy, again in the defeat by the Netherlands and tossed in a marker versus Kazakhstan – dominated the offensive action for Canada by swishing four-of-six shots with a rebound in the span of 22:35 in the water to tie with teammate Rae Lekness for high-scoring accolades in the contest.
Overall, La Roche put away three-of-five action shots and one-of-one shots from center as Canada outscored New Zealand 6-5 and 5-4 in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, to capture the win.
She concludes the championship with seven goals, five steals, seven rebounds and four field blocks.
Complete statistics of all 2022 FINA World Championship games are available by CLICKING HERE.
