ERIE, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College women's water polo team battled to a split at the Gannon Invite. The Presidents suffered a loss to Salem, 15-14, before battling back in a close win over NCAA Division II host Gannon, 17-16.
Game One – W&J 14, Salem 15
After both teams scored within the first minute, Salem held the lead for the remainder of the first period. Emmie Ratcliff (Friendswood, Texas / Friendswood) netted a powerplay goal on a pass from Laura Anthony (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) with 13 seconds left in the quarter to tie the game, 5-5.
Three Presidents had a hand in the comeback in the first quarter. E. Ratcliff recorded a hat trick. Anastacia Didovich (Venice, Fla./Venice) and Sydney Neumann (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) each netted a goal.
W&J outscored Salem in the second to come away with a 9-8 lead heading into the half. The Presidents four goals were scored by Emma Halle (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) who netted two coupled with goals by Hallie Ratcliff (Friendswood, Texas / Friendswood) and Didovich.
Salem responded in the third with three goals while holding the Presidents to two, knotting the game at 11.
Salem scored to start the fourth. Anthony, Neumann and E. Ratcliff fired goals in the fourth, but the Lions answered with a three goals of their own to claim a narrow 15-14 victory over the Presidents.
E. Ratcliff paced the W&J offense with four goals. Neumann had a hat trick on the outing. Didovich, H. Ratcliff and Halle had multi-goal efforts as well with two each. Anthony dished a game-high three assists. Didovich racked up a game-high five steals.
Senior Alliey Cunningham (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) made eight saves in net for the Red & Black in game one with two steals and one assist.
Game Two – W&J 17, Gannon 16
W&J found themselves tied following the first quarter once again in game two, this time 4-4 against host team Gannon.
W&J started the second quarter with a 4-0 run, seeing scores by Halle (2), E. Ratcliff (1) and H. Ratcliff (1). The Presidents secured a three-point lead in the second quarter outscoring the Golden Knights 7-4.
Gannon did their best to mitigate the W&J lead by limiting the Presidents to one goal in the third quarter. Halle netted the lone goal before the Golden Knights scored three consecutively to exit the third down by one, 12-11.
Halle found the back of the cage once more to start the final quarter of play, 13-11. The two teams traded goals until Gannon was able to net three consecutive goals to take the lead for the first time with 2:38 remaining, 15-14. Consecutive goals by H. Ratcliff and Anthony took back the lead for the Presidents, 16-15.
The Golden Knights tied the game once more with 12 seconds left in regulation play, 16-16. Neumann netted the game winning goal for the Presidents with six second left on the clock to earn the Presidents their first win over the Division II Golden Knight since 2006.
H. Ratcliff scored a team high five goals in the bout. Seniors Anthony and Halle both netted four each and E. Ratcliff followed with three. E. Ratcliff and Cunningham each served up two assists and Halle and Neumann led the team in steals with two each.
Didovich collected 13 saves in the cage for the Presidents in the win.
Up Next: The women's water polo team travels next to Rock Island, Ill. for the CWPA Division III Championship. Their first tilt is set to get underway on Friday (April 11) at 4 p.m. CST against Carthage.
