The women’s water polo team hosted the annual Bison Invitational on Feb. 10-11 in the Kinney Natatorium. On the first day of competition, the Bison defeated Gannon 17-9 and Saint Francis 13-8. They continued their winning streak the following day with an 11-8 victory over George Washington and an 11-4 victory over Sienna. The team is now on their longest streak in two years.

The Bison offered a strong offense in their first game against Gannon, putting up their highest scoring total since Feb. 2017. Kali Hyham ’21 scored four goals for the Orange and Blue, while Emily Konishi ’19 and Molly Teresi ’21 notched three goals each. Gigi Rojahn ’20 also added two more goals for the Bison.

Defensively, Manuela Herrera ’18 recorded 11 saves for the Orange and Blue, reaching the 400-save mark for her career and rising to fifth in program history in saves. At the end of the first quarter, the score was tied 2-2 but the Bison quickly took control in the second quarter scoring six more goals. They finished the game strong with a 17-9 victory.

In their second game of the day, the Bison beat Saint Francis 13-8, improving their season record to 4-2. The Bison had a slow start but were able to come back. Colleen Barron ’18 scored five goals while Ally Furano ’21 added four more. Hyam scored two goals for the Bison, becoming the team’s leading scorer. Shyla Lintz ’18 also drew four ejections for the Bison.

The Bison started the second day of the Invitational with a 11-8 victory over George Washington. George Washington held a 6-3 lead at halftime, but Koshini sparked the rally for the Bison with a goal in the first 35 seconds of the second half. She then added an assist on Rojahn’s game-tying tally in the third quarter. Hyham added two straght goals and Furano added one more to complete the comeback.

In the final game of the weekend, the Bison beat Siena 11-4. The Orange and Blue were down 4-2 through the second quarter. However, they were able to shut Siena down and score the final nine goals of the game to secure an undefeated tournament record. Hyham and Nina Benson ’20 had two goals apiece.

“It was a lot of fun playing in our own pool and going 4-0 this weekend. The younger girls on our team got a lot of playing time and got a little more comfortable with everything we’ve been working on in practice this week. We were also able to see what else we still need to work on for our games next weekend at Princeton, when we play a lot of tough competition,” Barron said.

The Bison will next compete on Feb. 17-18 at the Princeton Invitational, where they will take on Marist, Wagner, and, most notably, the Chinese National Team in an exhibition game.