(5/2025) On Friday, April 25, Mount St. Mary’s women’s water polo team will face off against Long Island University in a rematch of last year’s first round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference playoffs. In last year’s edition, the Mountaineers defeated the nationally ranked Sharks by a score of 9-8 in a major conference playoff upset, the program’s biggest win ever. But to get to the conference tournament in Poughkeepsie, New York, the Mount had to run a gauntlet; a trial that tested the bounds of talent from Northeast powerhouses of the MAAC all the way to glimmering waters of the Pacific Ocean.

In their opening match of the season against Gannon, the Mountaineers jumped out to an early five goal lead while holding the Golden Knights scoreless through the first quarter. A closely fought 3-2 second quarter was played out and the Mount went into the halftime intermission up 8-2. The Mount scored another five goals in the third quarter followed by three more in the final period, to notch the first game of the season as a 16-7 victory for the Mountaineers. Rebecca Valentine, Leilani Horan, Maria Boix Pascual, and Anita Radaelli all scored hat tricks against Gannon. Radaelli also notched two assists, completed three steals, and drew three exclusions. Riley Thompson provided three assists and drew three exclusions. In the cage, Head Coach Justin Vink split keeper time between Olivia Fernie and Becca Enquist. Both Fernie and Enquist recorded seven total saves each for a team total of 14 saves in net.

Following their victory against the Golden Knights, the Mount and Mercyhurst played out to a 3-2 first quarter in their second match of the Invitational. But a 4-0 run by the Mount in the second half put the team up comfortably heading into halftime where they were up 7-2. A further five goals came in the third quarter to the Lakers’ one. Up big heading into the fourth quarter, the Mountaineers allowed four goals during the period while only scoring three. But the damage was done well before then as the Mount cruised to a 15-7 win in their second game of the year. Radaelli once again showed off her offensive prowess, scoring on four occasions while providing an assist and completing a steal. Beatrice Vieira scored a hat trick while completing one steal. Fernie and Enquist spilt time again in the cage, with Enquist recording seven saves and Fernie recording six.

The rest of the Mountaineer’s opening weekend saw the team record a 16-11 win against Iona and a 12-6 loss to Villanova. The next weekend at the VMI Invitational in Lexington, Virginia, the team recorded a record of 3-1 with wins against the hosts, VMI, and against Gannon and Austin, while losing out to Bucknell by a score of 10-9. Three more wins followed at the Bucknell Invitational followed the next weekend in Lewisburg as the Mountaineers rounded out another 3-1 weekend with wins against Siena, La Salle, and Mercyhurst while losing to Saint Francis.

After their opening taste of water polo in the eastern region, the Mount traveled out west to play in the Claremont Convergence Tournament in California, where they faced off against Cal Lutheran as a warmup match for the rest of their competition, handily defeating the Regals 13-10. Against Cal State Fullerton on February 28, the first quarter ended in a close contest, with the Mountaineers tying the Titans 1-1 off of a goal by Valentine, notching her 200th career goal at the Mount. A goal from Beatrice Vieira was cancelled out by a Fullerton double to head into the halftime intermission down 3-2. The heat in the California breeze was put on in the third quarter as four goals from Valentine, Vieira, Maria Boix Pascual, and Anita Radaelli flew into the cage to put the Mount up narrowly 6-5 heading into the final quarter of the match. An even 3-3 contest was played out in the fourth, but goals from Valentine, Pascual, and Radaelli once again proved vital as the win was earned. Valentine, along with her program accolades, notched a hat trick against Fullerton along with five drawn exclusions. Along with three assists from Anna Kegel, doubles from Vieira, Pascual, and Radaelli rounded out the goal scoring. Olivia Fernie notched 11 saves in goal against the Titans in their first game of the day.

After their win against the Titans, the Mountaineers were seen off by the likes of Pomona-Pitzer, No. 19, San Diego State, and No. 10, Loyola Marymount, to cap off their trip on the west coast. After returning to the Mid-Atlantic, the Mountaineers began conference play with wins against VMI and Villanova while losing out to La Salle to start their conference campaign with a 2-1 record. Their conference schedule continues as they split their matches March 22 with a 16-12 loss to Iona and a 15-11 win against Siena.

During their home weekend series on March 29, the Mountaineers got on the board first against Marist after Anita Radaelli sent a blistering shot past the goalkeeper for an early 1-0 lead. Anna Kegel scored halfway through the quarter off of a delivery from assist by Beatrice Vieira just before Marist got on the board. Marist scored four unanswered goals transitioning into the second quarter before Radaelli once again found the net to cut the deficit to a goal. Towards the end of the quarter, both Kegel and Robyn Currie found the back of the net to go into the halftime intermission down 7-5 to the Red Foxes. Currie and Radaelli once again repeated their scoring efforts from the first half at the start of the second, but a five-goal out pour from Marist in the third quarter stunted any ground gained by the Mountaineers in the third. Maria Boix Pascual and Beatrice Vieira got on board in the fourth quarter, rounding out the end of the Mount scoring efforts.

The matchup against Marist began a sort of cold streak for the Mountaineers, dropping their next three to Iona, LIU, and Wagner before eking out a 13-12 win against Siena in order to clinch a spot in the MAAC Women’s Water Polo Playoffs. A final 12-8 loss to Marist on April 12 wrapped up a 4-7 MAAC campaign record, with an overall record of 15-13 in all competition.

The team’s path to a MAAC championship is tedious to say the least, coming up against the number two-seed in LIU to start the first round. If the team were to win, they would take on Marist in the semifinals, followed by a match up against either Villanova, Iona, or Wagner in the championship game. But the Mountaineers have shown what they’re capable of in the past to LIU in the very same round. Even this year with upset wins against Villanova and Cal State Fullerton, the Mountaineers have shown their composure in big games. They have also shown their weakness in letting games get away from them like against San Diego State and again, unfortunately, in their 21-12 defeat against LIU on April 6. The real question is, can the Mountaineers turn up for one more big game this year and keep the momentum going into the late rounds of the tournament in a bid to win the conference? Time will tell.