The Bison women’s water polo team traveled to Michigan from Mar. 3-4 to compete in the two-day Wolverine Invitational. The Orange and Blue came away with one victory of the four games played: against Iona on the first day of competition. The Bison fell short to No. 17 Long Beach State, No. 9 Michigan, and No. 19 CSU Northridge, bringing their season record to 7-7.

In their first contest against Long Beach State, the Bison dropped a 9-6 loss, but returned to action later in the evening to take on the Iona Gaels. Shyla Lintz ’18 notched the game-winning goal off of an assist from Emily Konishi ’19. Manuela Herrera ’18 tallied 11 saves in the contest to seal the tight 6-5 win over the Gaels for the team’s only victory of the weekend.

In day two of the competition, host Michigan Wolverines held the Bison to a 14-5 loss. Colleen Barron ’18, Kali Hyham ’21, Matylda Zaklicki ’20, and Nina Benson ’20 all netted goals against Michigan, with Benson tallying two.

The Orange and Blue took on the CSU Northridge Matadors for their final contest of the tournament and fought with persistence, but could not come away with the win. Entering the final minutes of the game, the teams were sealed in a 5-5 tie. Early in the fourth quarter, Lintz found Benson for a thrilling goal to put the Bison at a one-point advantage with 7:19 left on the clock. The Matadors mercilessly finished the game with a 5-0 run to close with a final score of 10-6 over the Bison. Barron (2), Benson (2), Konishi, and Marta Considine ’18 notched goals in the outing.

“I think in terms of our physical effort, our team has been doing really well and we are close to where we want to be, but mentally we need to work on our confidence against highly ranked teams and playing consistently for all four quarters,” Barron said. “For spring break we will be going to California, where we will not only get to play five games against highly competitive teams, but will also get to spend a week training in the sun.”

The Bison continue competition at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego, CA on March 10-11.