VILLANOVA, Pa. – Water Polo took down Mercyhurst in their finale in the Wildcat Invite 17-4. This is their second year in a row sweeping their home tournament, which helps improve coach Michael Gordon's home career record to 12-1.

The Wildcats outscored their opponents 62-23 during the opening weekend, with Sunday capping off the offensive attack that Villanova enforced over all four matches. 

"It's nice to play at home," Gordon said. "We definitely feel comfortable in our pool and feed off the energy of our fans. It was a great start to our season; everyone contributed to our success. I am very excited to keep moving forward to build off this great start."

Ten different Wildcats were able to tally a goal in this match. Riley Hull led the team in scoring with four goals, three of those coming in the first half. Lauren Short also notched a hat trick in the first half.

VU came out swinging, scoring three goals in the first 3:20 before the Lakers were able to get on the board. The Wildcats could not be stopped on offense as they went into the halftime break winning 13-2 after scoring ten unanswered goals, including eight in the second quarter alone.

Hull and Short both recorded their third goals of the day within 30 seconds of each other in almost identical fashion with four minutes to go in the second quarter. Both goals came off steals, where they then met the goalie one-on-one outside of the net with both Wildcats coming out on top.

Gracin Kerry recorded her fourth win of the season, giving her sole possession of fifth place in program history for career goalie wins with 15. She recorded six saves in the first two quarters before being removed after halftime.

Rachel Stephens replaced Kerry in goal for the second half. She made her first career appearance in this game, saving two shots and only allowing two goals.

Every active player on Villanova's roster competed in this match. With 7:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, Catharine McCann launched a shot from around the five-meter line that pierced the top left of the net for her first career goal.

VU won all eight of their sprints taken across Sunday's two games. The opening sprint in both games was taken in for a goal, with Amelia Baca finding the back of the net to open the offensive onslaught in the final matchup on the weekend.  

Sunday's match against the Lakers included the third time this season that the Wildcats were able to average a goal per minute over at least a five-minute stretch. They scored six goals in the final six minutes of the second quarter.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will be travelling up to Providence, R.I., to play in the Bruno Invitational hosted by Brown University. On February 1, they will face off against the University of the Pacific at 11:20 A.M. and Marist College at 3:20 P.M.

SOCIAL
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