VILLANOVA, Pa. – Women's Water Polo won their first ever match against the Toronto Golden Jets, an abridged version of the defending NCWP national champion Toronto Varsity Blues, by a score of 15-7.
Layla Canales had a strong performance for the Wildcats with her seventh career game with four or more goals.
Ella Mattocks got the scoring started with a backhanded goal, with
Lauren Short following up to extend the lead to two.
Amelia Baca cashed in twice in a row to extend the Wildcat lead to 4-0 within the first five minutes.
Toronto answered with three unanswered to cut the lead down to one as the second quarter began.
Canales scored her first two goals within 40 seconds of each other in the second quarter on a long-range goal and penalty shot.
The Wildcats outscored the Golden Jets 3-2 from that point on to end the quarter on goals from
Riley Hull,
Emmie Mallory, and
Tiffany Maguire.
Both teams entered the break with Villanova leading 9-5. The Golden Jets tried to mimic the fast-paced style that the Wildcats play but were unable to translate that to defense as Villanova adjusted too quickly.
Canales capitalized on two penalty goals to get the scoring started for Villanova in the third stanza, forcing the Golden Jets to change goalies while down six.
Hull also cashed in on a 5M opportunity, which was followed up by
Coco Jones slipping one past the defense.
To start the fourth quarter, to nobody's surprise, as she ranks among the best in program history to do so,
Ella Mattocks drew an exclusion, which was awarded a penalty shot. The junior became the third Wildcat to total a multi-goal game in this contest.
Adrienne Grimes scored her seventh on the year and fourth in her last six games to wrap up the Villanova offensive attack.
The Wildcats held the team from up north scoreless in the third frame, behind a very strong performance from
Gracin Kerry in the cage. She wrapped up the day with eight saves and only six goals allowed.
She was relieved with around six minutes to go in the game by freshman
Rachel Stephens, who made her fourth appearance of the season and tallied three saves in her time in net.
WATCH
The final game of the day against the Salem Tigers will be streamed through FloSwimming. Links can be found in the 2025 Women's Water Polo Schedule.
ALUMNI DAY
After the game against Salem, an alumni game will be played between the current Wildcat team and alumni of the program.
SOCIAL
For all the latest updates surrounding the program, follow Villanova Water Polo on Instagram @novawaterpolo and X (formerly Twitter) @nova_waterpolo.
