By Scott Padula
Contributing Writer
The women’s water polo team has a record of 5-5 after losing two and winning one in the ECAC Championships in Lewisburg last weekend. The Bison lost their first two games to Iona and Brown but were able to end the weekend on a high note, defeating a seasoned Marist team 10-7.
In the first game, the fell to a well-prepared Iona team, 16-9. The Gaels dictated the tempo from the onset, scoring six of the game’s first seven goals and jumping out to a 7-2 lead by the end of the first quarter. Iona continued to rattle off goals, scoring four more in the second to take an 11-3 lead in the first half.
The Orange and Blue mounted a small comeback in the third behind the play of Haley Prickett ’11, Kandis Canonica ’11 and Amanda Skonezney ’12, but they could not overcome the deficit.
The Bison fell to 4-4 on the season. Despite the losing effort, Prickett netted three goals while Canonica registered two of her own and added an assist. Skonezney also matched their point total, finding the back of the net once and tallying two assists.
“I think this weekend showed us that we need to learn to play 100 percent together, 100 percent of the time, with 100 percent effort and intensity,” Prickett said. “We have the potential to be a great team, but first everyone on the team needs to make the decision to put it all on the line, play without fear, and have fun.”
The Orange and Blue squared off with Brown in their first game in the consolation bracket. For the second time in as many games, the Bison fell behind early. This time, the Bison were down 7-2 heading into intermission. Although they outscored Brown by a goal in the second half, the Bison were unable to gain momentum and steal a victory.
The final score was 10-6. Prickett scored a team-high two goals, while Skonezney had a pair of assists and Hallie Kennan ’12 posted a goal and an assist. They were the only three Bison to register more than one point in the game. A primary area of concern for the Bison was their six-on-five offense. The Orange and Blue were only able to find the back of the net three out of eight opportunities with the man-up advantage. In contrast, the Brown six-on-five attack went five for nine.
The Bison faced Marist in the seventh-place game Sunday morning. The teams remained close in the first two quarters, but the Orange and Blue offense exploded in the third, netting four straight goals. The Red Foxes rallied in the fourth quarter and cut the deficit to one, but the Bison responded by scoring two goals of their own to clinch a 10-7 victory.
Heather Smith ’14, Julianne Valdes ’14 and Kennan led the way, scoring a combined seven goals. Nine different Bison registered a point in the well-distributed affair. Rena Heim ’14 also had a solid performance in goal with nine saves in 16 minutes of action. Six of those saves came in the third, a quarter where the Red Foxes could not post a single goal.
The Orange and Blue’s next test will be in their annual spring break trip to California where they will compete in the Claremont Convergence.