The women’s water polo team opened its regular season on the road Saturday with a thrilling 15-14, double-overtime victory over George Washington University.
Captain Kate Woods ’14 fired in her game-winning fifth goal with just 42 seconds left in the second extra period to give Bruno (4-4) its narrowest victory of the season so far. Woods’ five led the game, though Emily McNamara ’14 and Marisa Kolokotronis ’17 made major contributions with three goals apiece.
“The most important thing was coming out with a win,” said Head Coach Felix Mercado. “We were able to recognize our flaws that we have to work out going forward.”
Emma Dodd ’16 put Bruno on the board early with the first goal of the game before the Colonials (4-9) stormed back with the next three, two of which came from Allison Littlejohn. George Washington led 4-3 after the first quarter.
The Bears and Colonials both found the back of the net three times in the second quarter. A goal from Colonial sophomore Hannah Cox gave George Washington a 7-6 lead heading into the locker room.
The third frame produced another three goals on each side, with Woods, McNamara and Kolokotronis each getting the ball past Colonial goalie Chandler Vilander to hold Bruno’s one-goal deficit at 10-9.
“McNamara and Kolokotronis kept us in the game, and (Woods) found a way to score the big ones at the end,” Mercado said.
Cox scored another pair of goals for the Colonials in the final period, but Bruno stormed back with two tallies of its own. With just over four minutes on the clock, Woods got on the scoresheet again to tie the game at 12. Neither team managed another score before the end of regulation, sending the Bears into their first overtime contest of the season.
Bruno did not waste time getting on the board in extra play. Olivia Santiago ’16 beat Vilander just 23 seconds into the first overtime to give the Bears a 13-12 lead — the first Brown lead since the first quarter.
The Bears carried their edge into the final seconds of the period before George Washington senior Katherine Berry evened the score on a penalty shot with just 23 ticks on the clock to push the game into a second overtime.
Center defender Shannon Crowley ’17 started the frame off strong for Bruno, firing a shot past Crowley 56 seconds in to give Brown a 14-13 advantage. Though Berry tied the score again with just over a minute to play, Woods secured Bruno’s victory with her fifth score of the game.
“I definitely saw (Woods) take the game over,” Mercado said. “She had a rough beginning offensively and defensively. … Even with two fouls, she basically took the game over offensively and was not going to be denied.”
Despite the victory, Mercado expressed some disappointment with Bruno’s performance.
“We didn’t play our best water polo,” he said. “We need to get better and more consistent. At this point of the season where every game matters, the urgency has to be there.”
The Bears will play four games in the Harvard Invitational next weekend.
ADVERTISEMENT
