Women's water polo won a game and lost three at the Spartan Invitational February 20-21 at the MSU Natatorium in East Lansing, Mich. The Lady Lions fell to Michigan 10-0 and to Michigan State 12-2 on Saturday, but defeated Miami (Ohio) 9-5 to wrap up the day. On Sunday, Lindenwood played a single match, and lost 8-5 to Grand Valley State at the event, which is one of the premier tournaments in the Midwest each season.
In the opening game, the Lady Lions played a hard-hitting defense against the Wolverines, one of the perennial powers in the Big Ten Conference. Lindenwood held Michigan to just four goals at halftime, but couldn't muster any offensive production, going 0-12 on shot attempts.
It was a similar story against the host Spartans in the second game. The Lady Lions were relatively stingy on defense, but once again had trouble scoring.
Lindenwood finally put a solid game together on both sides of the ball in the victory against the Lakers. The Lady Lions led 5-3 at halftime, and extended the advantage in the second half.
In the final game of the weekend for Lindenwood, the offense was clicking enough to create many scoring opportunities, but just wasn't able to capitalize, which ultimately left the Lady Lions short on the score board in the end.
Michal Andreatta led Lindenwood with six goals in the four games. Vladislava Milutinovic added another four, while Rachel Rust and Abby VerMeer each hit the back of the cage twice. Abigail Conner and Drew L'Ecuyer each added single markers during the weekend. Dani Rust paced the defense, making 22 saves while in goal and adding nine steals from the field. Rachel Rust had 10 take-aways, Milutinovic had nine, Heather Rosson and Andreatta had five steals each, Quincy Winship and Conner added three a piece, and VerMeer and L'Ecuyer each had one.
Lindenwood dropped under .500 for the season with an overall record of 5-6. The Lady Lions return to action February 27-28 for the University of Notre Dame Invitational at the Rolf Sports Center in South Bend, Ind.
