The water polo team enters its action in New England this weekend with an 8-3 record after posting a 3-1 mark at the Bucknell Invitational, Feb. 8-9.
It marks the best start for the program since its inception in 2016.
The Red Flash lost just two seniors to graduation last spring, but one of them was Emese Szucs, the program’s all-time leading scorer (275 career goals) and a 2024 Honorable Mention All-American.
This year’s roster includes three seniors, five juniors, four sophomores and seven freshmen.
“The biggest difference is that this is a much deeper team,” said eighth-year head coach Jay O’Neil. “In the past, we were comfortable going eight, nine deep.
“This year, we’re up to like 12, 14, 15 players who are all playing on a consistent basis.”
Junior Caylah Olay and sophomore Sam Eschleman currently lead the team in scoring. In SFU’s most recent match, a 14-13 double-overtime victory over Siena at Bucknell, Olay scored the game-winning goal. The Redondo Beach, California native also leads the team in ejections drawn (16).
Eschleman scored four goals in the team’s opening match of the season against LIU.
Goalkeeper Isabel Lumley leads the team in saves (101). She recorded a season-high 20 stops in the double-overtime win over Siena on Feb. 9.
O’Neil said that the main things the team needs to improve on are “communication on defense and consistency in decision-making on the offensive end.”
The Red Flash will face Harvard, Brown and Princeton this weekend (Feb. 22-23) at the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Conference Crossover in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island.
The team has just one home match on the 2025 schedule. SFU will host Salem at the Stokes Natatorium on April 12 at 3 p.m.
“We have a fantastic team that’s coming together,” said Lumley, a senior from Brisbane, Australia.
