George Washington University Athletics
2016 GW Women's Water Polo Season Outlook
2/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
The George Washington women's water polo team scored a lot of goals in 2015 â€" a program-record 320 of them, to be exact.
Nearly 66 percent of those goals were scored by the Colonials' six freshmen, who now have a full year of collegiate experience under their belts, and with the return of every field player from last season, GW's offense remains largely in tact as the 2016 campaign begins.
"I think they all have a better idea of what to expect and how to handle the ebb and flow of the season," head coach Adam Foley said of his now-sophomores. "I think the maturity from the experience they gained last year is going to help them throughout the year. The strength of this group is going to be those sophomores that saw a bunch of time as freshmen, and now they're all playing together as sophomores. Them building experience with each other and building upon their existing relationships will be the strength of this team for the next few years."
While the sophomore class will be key to the Colonials' success in 2016, the offense will continue to revolve around senior center Hannah Cox. The Canadian is the only player in program history to score 50 goals in two different seasons after tallying 53 a year ago and enters her final go-round ranking fifth all-time at GW with 155 career goals.
"A lot of what we do revolves around the opportunities that Hannah creates â€" it's definitely an inside-outside offense and we need that center presence," said Coach Foley, who is in his first year as head coach after serving in an interim capacity last season.
Sophomores Jacqueline Bywater and Scarlett Hallahan put up some eye-popping numbers in their rookie campaigns, garnering all-conference honors and combining for 163 goals and 103 assists in 2015. Bywater set the program's single-season records with 82 goals, 63 assists, 145 points and 96 steals a year ago, while Hallahan finished right behind her with 81 goals and 40 assists while also setting a program mark with 19 field blocks.
"I think all the opportunities they had last year will be there, and hopefully they will feel more comfortable in their roles and attack more and be more aggressive to find their shot," said Coach Foley.
Junior Maddy Johnson had a breakout sophomore season in which she tallied 40 goals and 39 assists, but she will likely miss the season with an injury. Coach Foley expects sophomore Erin McGeoy to smoothly step into the role vacated by Johnson after a strong freshman year in which she set GW's rookie record with 62 ejections drawn while also scoring 27 goals.
"Last year Erin did a little bit of everything," he said. "She grew into a back-up center role behind Hannah, but this year I'm going to ask her to be more dynamic, more of a utility kind of attacker."
Another sophomore, Maddie Goodell, does a lot of the little things that don't always show up on the stat sheet, Coach Foley said. She tallied 29 assists and 27 steals last season, and the coach expects even bigger things from her in 2016.
"She had a great season last year; she was exactly what we needed," he said. "I think she's ready to step up. She just needs to be herself and she'll naturally find a lot more opportunities out there. I'm excited. She does a lot of team defense, team offensive decision-making â€" things that are huge for us."
Coach Foley also has high expectations for freshman Ellie Reid, a former teammate of Goodell's at Newport Harbor High School in Southern California.
"Ellie is a great perimeter defender, great counterattack player, fantastic shooter," he said. "She has a really good sense of the game. I expect her to be a fantastic shooting presence on that 4-5 side as a left-handed attacker, which would allow Scarlett to post up more."
Freshman Anya Welch, a native of Trinidad, where Coach Foley worked with the national team for two years, will also contribute to the Colonials' offense, while junior Brennan Marczewski, sophomore Megan Belliveau and freshman Kelsey Oliver will compete for playing time. Junior Allyson Bakos is expected to miss the season with an injury.
Five-foot-11 Sophomore Maggie Ball will anchor the Colonials' defense at center defender. Ball, who set a program record with eight steals against Cal Lutheran last March, posted 79 steals and 18 field blocks as a rookie while also contributing 11 goals and seven assists.
"Maggie is a very smart, solid defender," said Coach Foley. "She's very calm and she uses her strengths very well. She's got length and anticipation and she's a fantastic team defender and also a fantastic one-on-one center defender. Our conference has a lot of great centers, and she's going to be asked to play them one-on-one, which is not an easy thing."
Grad student Mikaela Pyrch will be another defensive cornerstone for the Colonials. At 5-foot-10, she has similar length to Ball and is also very athletic. She posted 38 steals and seven field blocks last season in her return to the pool after spending 2014 with GW's women's rowing team.
With the graduation of four-year starting goalkeeper and 2015 team MVP Chandler Vilander, who finished her career second on GW's all-time saves list, the Colonials will have a different look in the cage. Senior Addy Colona, a goalkeeper by trade in high school, will transition back into the cage after spending her first three seasons in Foggy Bottom as a field player, while freshman Katherine Moeller, who comes from the same high school program as Marczewski and Beliveau at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut, was one of the top goalkeepers in the New England Prep School Athletic Counsel. The duo will split time in goal to start the season.
The Colonials open the season this weekend at the annual Bison Invitational hosted by Bucknell. The nine-team CWPA Championship will take place April 29-May 1 at Harvard University.
