VILLANOVA, Pa. — The Mercyhurst University women’s water polo team kicked off the season at the Villanova Open hosted by Villanova University. The Lakers went 1-3 on the weekend as the team fell to Iona University, 14-6, Mount St. Mary’s University, 15-7, and the host Wildcats, 17-4, with a victory over Gannon University, 10-6.
Facing Iona to begin the weekend on Saturday, January 25, senior Grace Brzyski kicked things off as she grabbed the first goal of the game and of the season for Mercyhurst. But over the next three minutes, Iona scored four unanswered goals. Before the end of the first quarter, Brzyski added another goal to cut the deficit to two.
The second quarter featured little scoring, but just over a minute apart Iona grabbed two goals to take a 6-2 lead. Brzyski was able to net one more before going into the half.
Freshman Victoria Mastrangelo opened the second half with a goal of her own to get the lead back down to two, but the Lakers managed only two more goals with both coming from freshman Maryn King. Iona put another eight in the net to secure a 14-6 victory over the Lakers. Senior Marley Ramon tallied eight saves in the matchup.
The Lakers finished off day one with a match against Mount St. Mary’s. Once again, the first quarter was neck and neck as the Lakers answered goals twice. Brzyski scored her fourth goal of the day to tie the game at one. But that was as close as they would get for the remainder of the contest.
After Junior Bri Allstun’s goal to make the score 3-2, the Lakers did not score again until Allstun buried another one to open the third quarter. Mount St. Mary’s scored six more unanswered after that to pull away. Brzyski scored two more to earn her second hat trick of the day and graduate student Allie Dombkowski scored in the closing stages as well in the 15-7 loss.
The Lakers grabbed their first win of the season over crosstown rival Gannon to open competition on Sunday, January 27. The Lakers dominated the first quarter as they put up five goals in the frame. Junior Krista Domaracki grabbed her first two goals of the season to kick things off. Her second goal gave Mercyhurst a lead they would not surrender to the Golden Knights. Freshman Grace Tirak, sophomore Freya Green and sophomore Marley Hanlon all added goals in the first quarter as well.
Dombkowski scored the Lakers lone goal of the second quarter, but it was enough to give them a two goal lead at the half. Gannon got the game back to 7-6 after they answered a goal from Brzyski with one of their own, but Hanlon grabbed another goal to end the third. Goals from Brzyski and King added some insurance in a 10-6 victory.
The Lakers ended the weekend with a 17-4 loss to Villanova. Mercyhurst scored two goals in the first half, as Allstun put away a shot in the first quarter to make the score 4-1 and freshman Olivia George conncted to make it 13-2. Dombkowski and Tirak added the other two goals as the Lakers finished off the weekend with their third loss.
Information courtesy Mercyhurst University Athletics Communications
