THE RUNDOWN
Final Scores: Salem 16, Gannon 15 | McKendree 12, Gannon 10
Gannon 19, Virginia Military 18 (OT) | La Salle 20, Gannon 12
Records: Gannon (1-6) | SU (12-9) | McK (2-2) | VMI (3-5) | La Salle (5-2)
Location: Aquatics Center at Mylan Park | Morgantown, W. Va.
The Short Story: The Gannon women's water polo team won a thriller in its early game Sunday against Virginia Military to highlight a weekend of tight games at the Salem Invitational.
GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Gannon-VMI |
Gannon-La Salle
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Salem jumped out to a 4-1 lead and despite Gannon sprinting back into it with four straight goals early in the second to tie it at 8-8, held a 14-9 lead at halftime to hold off Gannon in the first game of the weekend.
- Two goals from Nicole Wiemken (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon) late in the fourth got the Golden Knights to within two, and Maddie Slater's (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria) finish made it 16-15 with 28 seconds left, but Gannon couldn't get the equalizer in time.
- McKendree grabbed a 12-9 victory in the evening game Saturday. Full statistics for this game were not available as of this posting.
- The hot scoring continued on Sunday, as Gannon and VMI combined for four lead changes in the first nine minutes. The Knights led by three at the break, but four goals from VMI put the Keydets back in front late in the third.
- Two goals from Wiemken around a Julia Kreidinger (Erie, Pa./Villia Maria) finish bumped Gannon ahead early in the fourth, but three straight pulled VMI into a tie at the end of regulation. Beatrice Popescu (Bucharest, Romania/Railway Tech) and Campbell Ruh (Walnut, Calif./Lutheran High School of Orange County) tallied overtime finishes, enough to hold off one final VMI goal and hold on for a 19-18 overtime triumph.
- In the final game of the weekend, La Salle jumped out to an early lead, although two second-quarter scores from Popescu brought the Knights to within 5-4. Goals at the end of the second and beginning of the third again got Gannon to within one at 7-6.
- The Explorers followed that with six straight goals to end the third quarter though, building up a large enough lead to hold off the Knights.
GAME NOTES
- Wiemken had day on Sunday, matching a program record with 10 goals in the game against Virginia Military. That equals Kelly Fehr's (Erie, Pa./Villia Maria) 10 scored last season against Wittenberg.
- The junior totaled 15 goals across three games, moving her to a team-leading 20 on the season.
- Sydney Klakeg (Santa Barbara, Calif./Choate Rosemary Hall) put up a career-high 11 saves against the Keydets.
- Popescu tallied five goals against La Salle Sunday, giving her 10 for the weekend.
UP NEXT
- Gannon turns its attention to the Penn State Behrend Tournament next weekend.
- The Golden Knights will face Behrend Saturday at 5 p.m., followed Sunday by a twinbill against Grove City at 11:30 a.m. and Behrend again at 4 p.m.
- Gannon holds a perfect 26-0 record against PSB all-time, and a 32-4 mark against Grove City.
