Erie, Pa.—After a weekend off, the Mercyhurst Women's Water Polo team returns to action with four games this weekend at the La Salle Invite in Philadelphia. The Lakers will take on La Salle at 9 a.m. and Mount St. Mary's at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, then play St. Francis College Brooklyn at 8:30 a.m. and La Salle again at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Some Familiar Foes
Three out of Mercyhurst's four games this weekend will be against an opponent they have already seen this weekend. The Lakers saw La Salle, this weekend's hosts and opponent for two games, back on their first weekend of action at the Bucknell Invitational on Jan. 29. La Salle came out ahead, 22-3, in Mercyhurst's second game of the spring.
The Lakers saw Mount St. Mary's the next weekend at the Wittenberg Invite, losing that one 11-5. They rebounded to defeat Wittenberg 12-8 later in the day.
The Mount and Lakers crossed paths again two weeks later when Mercyhurst hosted the inaugural Curtis Robinette Memorial Invite. The Lakers capped off their weekend with a win over The Mount, 12-10. Sara Marin and Sakura Gavin both notched three goals in that game.
Scouting La Salle
The Explorers are now 9-7 on the season, staying busy after their meeting against the Lakers in January. Winners of their last six games, La Salle has played the majority of their early schedule against teams that are either nationally-ranked or receiving votes in national polls. Graduate Student Kalista Hyham has scored a blistering 49 goals to lead the Explorers.
Scouting Mount St. Mary's
After their first two weekends 3-1, The Mount have now lost 15 of their last 16 contests. Six of those losses have come to nationally-ranked opponents, however. Rebecca Valentine has impressed in her freshman campaign, netting 51 goals to lead her squad. The Mount will play Gannon Saturday morning before seeing the Lakers in the afternoon.
Scouting St. Francis College Brooklyn
The Terriers have had a slow start to their season, coming into the weekend 2-7. Their competitions have been spaced two weeks apart, and this week is no different: St. Francis last played at the Courtney Fisher Invite hosted by Marist on Feb. 26, taking losses to nationally-ranked opponents Wagner and Marist. The Terriers will take on Salem and Gannon Saturday before playing the Lakers Sunday.
