April 2, 2005

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - The Maryland women's water polo team went 2-0 on the first day of the Siena Invitational, defeating Queens College, 15-6, and Penn State-Behrend, 11-5. If the Terps beat Iona tomorrow, they will advance to the championship game.

Maryland, the top seed in the `B' bracket and the second seed overall in the tournament, took a 5-2 lead over Queens in the first quarter and had a 10-3 advantage at halftime. The score was 14-5 after the third period and 15-6 final.

The Terps (8-13) were led in scoring by senior Elyse Corwin (Orinda, Calif.), who notched a hat trick. Senior Colleen McShane (Chicago, Ill.) scored two goals and added four steals and three assists, while junior Allison Kuzniar (St. Charles, Ill.) scored twice and had two assists and two steals.

Junior Rebecca Kadushin (College Park, Md.) and freshmen Allie Houseal (Harleysville, Pa.) and Kacie Owens (Annapolis, Md.) each had two goals, while senior Juli Jordan (Springfield, Va.) and freshman Emily Smoak (Salisbury, Md.) scored one apiece. Senior Sarah Wahba (Crofton, Md.) added two steals.

Junior goalie Marissa Corwin (Orinda, Calif.) registered nine saves while allowing all six Queens goals.

In the second game of the day, the Terps jumped out to a 3-0 lead, blanking Penn State-Behrend in the first quarter, and took a 9-1 lead into halftime. The Lions shut Maryland out in the third period while tallying three times to bring the score to 9-4 before the Terps scored twice more in the final frame to win 11-5.

It was the second time this season Maryland has defeated Penn State-Behrend, as they won, 12-6, on Feb. 20 at the Bucknell Invitational.

McShane, Elyse Corwin and sophomore Scandia DiSaverio (Wilmington, Del.) each scored twice for the Terps, while Jordan, Houseal, Kadushin, Kuzniar and Wahba added one goal apiece.

McShane also had five steals, while sophomore Orsi Ferenczy (Fot, Hungary) had three. Marissa Corwin registered five blocks in the cage while allowing all five Lion goals.

It is the second time this season the Terps have won back-to-back games, and the first since Feb. 19-20 at the Bucknell Invitational when they defeated Slippery Rock and Penn State-Behrend.

"It was a good, solid performance by the team in both games," head coach Carl Salyer said. "We did a good job playing the way we want to play and dictating our style of play."

Maryland takes on Iona at 10:20 a.m. tomorrow, and the winner will advance to the championship game at 4:45 p.m. to face the winner of the Marist-Mercyhurst contest. The other two teams will face-off in the third-place game at 3:30 p.m. It would be the third time this season the Terps have faced Marist; they have split the previous two meetings.

"We'll have a good test against Iona," Salyer said. "They're a pretty good team. It would be nice to see Marist in the championship game and possibly win the season series."

Maryland 15, Queens 6
Queens     2   1   2   1     6
Maryland   5   5   4   1     15
Maryland Goals: Elyse Corwin (3), McShane (2), Kuzniar (2), Kadushin (2), Houseal (2),
Owens (2), Jordan, Smoak

Maryland 11, Penn State-Behrend 5
PSU-Behrend   0   1   3   1     5
Maryland   3   6   0   2     11
Maryland Goals: Elyse Corwin (2), McShane (2), DiSaverio (2), Jordan, Houseal, Kadushin, Kuzniar, Wahba

Siena Invitational Results
Mercyhurst 6, Siena 1
Iona 13, Penn State-Behrend 5
Maryland 15, Queens 6
Marist 11, Siena 7
Mercyhurst 8, St. Francis-N.Y. 5
Iona 15, Queens 4
Maryland 11, Penn State-Behrend 5
Marist 14, St. Francis-N.Y. 3

Siena Invite Day 2 Schedule
8 a.m. Penn State-Behrend vs. Queens
9:10 a.m. Siena vs. St. Francis-N.Y.
10:20 a.m. Maryland vs. Iona
11:30 a.m. Marist vs. Mercyhurst
1 p.m. 7th place game
2:15 p.m. 5th place game
3:30 p.m. 3rd place game
4:45 p.m. Championship game