Watson, Reyes Shine In Leopard Win Over Gannon

Both senior Lindsey Watson and sophomore Mahina Reyes scored multiple goals for the University of La Verne women’s water polo squad, who defeated the visiting Gannon Lady Knights, 8-5, Wednesday afternoon at the La Verne Aquatic Center.

ULV (1-1) earned their first win of the campaign in solid fashion. Watson collected four scores, while Reyes netted two.

After the Lady Knights took an early 1-0 lead at 4:58 of the first quarter, the Leopards hammered four unanswered goals en route to capturing a 4-1 advantage. The Leopards would never surrender the lead.

Following the Lady Knights taking a goal edge, Watson and Reyes produced back-to-back scores for the Leopards before the end of the first quarter within a span of 37 seconds. Senior Laura Larsen then netted her first score of the season in the second quarter (6:32) before junior Jen Aguilar collected her second (4:52).

Gannon’s Annie Greenhill cut the Leopard lead to two at 4:29. This marked the closest Gannon would get of La Verne, who led by two-goals thrice in the affair. Reyes then earned her fifth goal of the season at 2:23.

The Leopards would not score in the third quarter, but Watson gained a hat trick in the fourth after scoring at the 6:35, 4:54 and 3:45 marks to help the hosts seal the victory.

For the game, senior goalkeeper Lindsay Jones made 11 saves and now totals 24 saves for the year.

ULV next travels to Thousand Oaks to play four matches at the Cal Lutheran Tournament, starting Saturday at 9 a.m. against Cal State Monterey Bay.