The Gannon University women’s water polo team will look to come back from a season-opening four-game losing streak when it heads to Cathedral Preparatory School’s David M. Hallman III Aquatics Center this weekend for the Mercyhurst Invitational.
The Knights opened their 2018 campaign by going winless at last weekend’s Bucknell Invitational, losing to host Bucknell, 17-9, and George Washington, 16-10, on Saturday and then falling 9-7 to Saint Francis and 11-9 to Siena Sunday.
Gannon will take on St. Francis College of Brooklyn at 10 a.m. Saturday and then meet La Salle University at 2:30 p.m. On Sunday, the Knights will square off against Virginia Military Institute at 8 a.m. before battling Siena at 11:45 a.m.
At the Bucknell Invitational, Gannon sophomore Campbell Ruh finished with a trifecta of triples — three goals, three assists and three steals — against the host Bison.
Senior Liz Barr and freshman Sydney Fountain recorded two goals for Gannon. Seniors Kristi Howe and Alison Cooney each scored a goal as well. Junior goalkeeper Isabelle Vieira turned away six for the Knights.
In the second game against George Washington, Ruh added three more goals to total six on the day. Barr added four goals and one assist, and Cooney was the first to put the Knights on the board with one goal. Vieira saved the Knights from 10 potential GW goals.
Sunday’s games were tighter, and in the loss to Saint Francis, Gannon owned a 4-3 lead in the third period on two goals from Ruh and one each from Cooney and Barr.
With the scored knotted at 6-6, the Red Flash went on a 3-1 scoring run to beat the Knights 9-7.
Cooney ended the match with a perfect shot-to-goal ratio scoring three on three shots, Barr finished with two goals and two assists and Ruh added two goals. Vieira continued to turn away shots on goal as she blocked five from Saint Francis.
Against Siena, the two teams traded two-goal bursts, which left Siena with a 4-2 lead with 6 minutes, 44 seconds to play in the second period. But the Knights reeled off four consecutive goals in less than three minutes to go on top, 6-4, and eventually led 7-6 at halftime.
Later, the Knights owned a 9-8 advantage, but Siena scored the final three goals of the match to secure the win.
Ruh made a big impact with three goals and two assists, Barr and Cooney each had two goals and Vieira turned away eight at the net.

BRANDON JACES
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