VILLANOVA, Pa. – Women's Water Polo secured the win 16-8 over Gannon University in their season opener at the Villanova Swim Complex early Saturday.

This victory was their 11^th consecutive win against the Golden Knights and made coach Michael Gordon 2-0 in season openers in his career.

VU had five multi-goal scorers in their first contest. Emily McKenzie scored four goals, including two to put the game away in the fourth. Layla Canales and Riley Hull, two freshmen, both totaled two goals in their first collegiate game. Anna Painter and Sara Withers also added two apiece.

The Wildcats started hot, scoring two goals in the first 3:10 of the match, which was followed up by a third tally scored by Canales. VU extended their lead to 5-0 before the Golden Knights were able to get on the board.

Gannon started to gain momentum, scoring three goals to start the second quarter, cutting the Villanova lead to 6-3, where it remained a close match going back and forth defensively with both teams scoring sparingly until the final two minutes of the third quarter, where the Wildcats scored seven goals in the span of five minutes to take an insurmountable 15-7 lead.

Gracin Kerry tallied 15 saves in net for Villanova, including eight of 11 shots she faced in the first half. She also got in on the offensive attack, registering an assist.

McKenzie and Painter filled up the stat sheet off the ball as well, with McKenzie registering three assists, bringing her to seven points in the contest, and Painter recording three field blocks.

Villanova shined when playing outside of timed play, winning all four sprints and scoring on three penalty goal chances.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will be in the pool one more time today against Iona at 3:15 P.M. Villanova will be celebrating their Unitas Game, partnered with the diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative that strives to maintain a welcoming community at VU. All home matches can be streamed through FloSwimming.

SOCIAL
For all the latest updates surrounding the program, follow Villanova Water Polo on Instagram @novawaterpolo and X (formerly Twitter) @nova_waterpolo.