VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Saint Francis University water polo team hits the road once again traveling to Villanova University this upcoming weekend. The Red Flash will go head-to-head against four different competitors for four total matchups on Saturday and Sunday.

SFU will take on Mount St. Mary's Saturday at 11:30 a.m. followed by the matchup against host Villanova at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, the Red Flash have an early morning taking on a familiar competitor in Salem at 8:30 a.m. followed by a matchup against VMI at 2:30 p.m.

The Event: Villanova Invitational
Location: Villanova Swim Complex (Villanova, Pa.)

Game 1: Saint Francis vs. Mount St. Mary's
Date and Time: Saturday, March 6th – 11:30 a.m.
Live Stats: FOSH (score only)

Game 2: Saint Francis at Villanova
Date and Time: Saturday, March 6th – 3:30 p.m.
Live Stats: FOSH (score only)

Game 3: Saint Francis vs. Salem
Date and Time: Sunday, March 7th – 8:30 a.m.
Live Stats: FOSH (score only)

Game 4: Saint Francis vs. VMI
Date and Time: Sunday, March 7th – 2:30 p.m.
Live Stats: FOSH (score only)

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SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
The Red Flash will face the Mountaineers in the program's inaugural game Saturday. The Mountaineers feature a team almost entirely of freshmen, with a graduate goalkeeper to protect the cage.

Mount consists of some heavy hitters with a USA Water Polo Academic All-American, Madison Szczublewski, and a graduate of Hawai'i Hilo and a founder of the school's aquatic club, Rebekka Williams.
 
A pair of recruits for Mount won titles with the California Interscholastic Federation. Lauryn Thomas of Moorpark won a CIF title in 2016 and was a four-sport athlete. Mara Davis earned a Division I championship as a member of El Camino High School two years later. 

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
The Wildcats will compete in their first competitions of the 2021 season this weekend. In 2020 Villanova went 4-14. Overall, SFU and Villanova have met only one other time last season, in Indiana, where the Red Flash took an exciting 11-10 overtime win against the Wildcats.

Junior Kaysie Stuba is a leader in the pool for Villanova and one to keep an eye on all weekend. She recorded the most goals in the 18-game season in 2020 for the Wildcats with 42 and was number one in points on the team with 60. Stuba was also number one in steals with 20 and number two on the team in assists with 18 total.

Senior Cory Riley was the go-to in front of the net for the Wildcats last season recording 568:47 minutes played, starting every game for Villanova. She was number one in saves with 77, allowing 246, and recorded a .238 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
This will be the fifth meeting between the Red Flash and Tigers this 2021 season. SFU leads the all-time series 4-2 with their only two losses coming from the Michigan Invite two weekends ago and tallied a win in the first weekend of competition vs. Salem.

The Red Flash struggled behind a superb Annefleur ten Bloomendal showing. She would not only lead the team with five goals against SFU, but she also set up the final goal to lead the Tigers to a 10-9 victory. This was the first victory over the Red Flash in program history.

Margherita Garibbo, Bloemendal, and Courtney O'Shaughnessy added three goals apiece for the Tigers, while Heather Lock led the way with four goals in the last meeting of the two teams on February 21. These are all names to sure keep an eye out for Sunday.

The Red Flash look to make a comeback against the Tigers and end the losing streak this coming weekend.
 
SCOUTING THE KEYDETS
This will be the first matchup vs. the Keydets since the 2019 season when the Red Flash fell 14-12. VMI leads the all-time series 4-0 over SFU. This weekend will be the first set of games for VMI of the 2021 season. In 2020, they went 12-1 before COVID canceled the remainder of their season.

VMI redshirt junior McKenna Imset was named a preseason All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) honoree. She led the team last year with 45 goals and 56 points. As a sophomore she ranked second in the MAAC in goals per game with 3.46.

Senior Zoe Salafatinos will sure be one to make a splash against the Red Flash on Sunday afternoon. She paced the team in 2020 with 24 steals on the year, and set the program single-game record in this category with nine to lead the MAAC with 1.85 steals per match. She tallied 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points last season.

Junior Genevieve Petrassi returns as the second leading scorer from 2020 with 25 goals in 53 shots, tallied 20 steals, and notched 13 assists in 13 games.

THE RED FLASH
Freshman Emese Szucs was SFU's leading scorer from two weekends ago, finding the back of the net a total nine times. This gives her a grand total of 19 goals on the season so far to lead the team and CWPA, and as well leads in the points category, goals per game and points per game. Szucs takes second on the team in assists and third in conference and first on the team in steals and third in the CWPA in the same category.

Sophomore Taylor Halbauer is another Red Flash sure to make her presence known this weekend. She is second on the team and in the CWPA in goals with 14, and ranks second in goals per game.

Sophomore and Junior goalie duo Heather Jacobson and Rosalinda Rivera are slated to share time in front of the goal this coming weekend. Both have given strong showings since the start of the 2021 season. Jacobson sits in the lead for SFU and second in the CWPA in saves with 36 and saves per game at 6.00, while Rivera is second in the conference with 26 saves on the season so far.

UP NEXT: BUCKNELL & LA SALLE
The Red Flash will face Bucknell and La Salle on Saturday, March 13. Updates on game coverage will be available on SFUAthletics.com and Saint Francis Water Polo's social media channels.

Follow Saint Francis Water Polo on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to get up-to-date information and a behind-the-scenes look at the Red Flash.

To learn more about Saint Francis University, visit francis.edu.