The second year of women's water polo at the Virginia Military Institute is in the books, and what a difference a year makes.
In the team's inaugural season, the Keydets won just two games, besting Salem International University twice at VMI's Clark King Pool. The Keydets were stymied through a road trip in California and during Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action.
But the 2013 season was a complete turnaround for VMI, which won a program-record 12 games, including its first-ever MAAC win during the first weekend of conference play in Lexington, the first time VMI hosted league games in women's water polo. That historic first MAAC win came over St. Francis Brooklyn 10-9 in an exciting back-and-forth match in the final game of the weekend in front of a full house.
The season got off on the right foot for VMI, which won four of its first six games, including a 3-0 start at the Salem International Tournament. A month later, VMI continued its torrid pace to begin the season, winning two of its three games during the Grove City College Tournament, improving to 6-3 on the young season.
And then came the team's historic trip to the West Coast.
After the three opening games of the Claremont Convergence, two of which were decided by four goals, the Keydets got their historic win, downing Occidental 9-8 in the final game of the Convergence. Scoring the game-winning goal was none other than sophomore captain Celine Lazzaro, tucking home her fifth goal of the day to give VMI its first win over a California school.
Nor would that be the final win on the West Coast for the Keydets. In two of its last games, the defense shone as VMI's offense dominated, besting Caltech 14-3 and Macalester 16-3.
Returning to the East Coast, the Keydets opened MAAC play, hosting the entire conference in Lexington for the first time in program history. It was a series of odd events that helped lead VMI to its first-ever conference win, with seven players and two coaches being tossed from the game. But in the end, VMI claimed the 10-9 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn, thanks to the steely nerves of freshman Caitlyn Jackson, who scored with just 1:22 left in the game to break a 9-9 deadlock.
Not only was the team's record improved overall, adding 10 wins to last season's total, but records were shattered along the way, including the program's single-season goal mark. This year, the team notched 275 goals, over one hundred more than in the inaugural season, a 62 percent increase from season to season. That goal total was aided by Lazzaro's single-season record of 93, shattering the previous mark of 64, set by Mackenzie Perkins in 2012.
But Perkins was a key factor on offense, putting away 43 goals this year, making her the program's all-time leading goal scorer at 107. Making the transition to college athletics can be difficult, but that was not the case for freshman Caitlyn Jackson, who posted 61 goals en route to a pair of MAAC Rookie of the Week nods.
As expected with a program in its second season, the youngsters are bearing the workload and that was evident in the goal. Rookie Molly Watkins, who was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week, now holds the program's single-season saves record, turning aside 305 opponent shots, zooming past Amanda Berrios' mark of 186 last season.
One cannot look at the top of the MAAC season statistics without seeing several Keydets, including Lazzaro, who finished third in the league with 2.91 goals per game, a VMI record. Not far below Lazzaro, Jackson came finished eighth in the same category with 1.91 goals per game, and was one of only two freshmen in the top 10. Perkins rounded out VMI's top 20 with the No. 16 spot, tucking away 1.34 goals per game.
Watkins too landed among the conference's best players, ranking second in total saves (305) and saves per game (9.53) trailing only Wagner's Laura Karbach, a second team All-MAAC selection.
The future is bright for the VMI women's water polo team, which lost just one player, Berrios, to graduation at the end of the season, just 13 goals from the team's season total. But the loss balances out as the Keydets get Molly Andoe back for the 2014 season after she redshirted this season. During the team's first year, Andoe put away 61 goals for the red and gold.
If this season was any indication of the the program's success rate, things are truly trending upwards for VMI water polo.
