The Huskies easily disposed of Drexel University 220-77 in the tri-meet, but the road to victory against Delaware wasn’t nearly as smooth as they squeaked out a 151-148 win.

Freshman Adriana Sepulveda posted first place finishes in the 200-meter and 500-meter freestyle events. Her times of 1:54.85 and 5:05.57, respectively, were enough to win both events.

Her twin sister Julia placed first in the 200-meter individual medley, clocking in at 2:10.59.

Going into the final event, the 200-meter freestyle relay, the Huskies stood face to face with the Blue Hens, who held a paper-thin lead heading into the final event.

Seniors Sarah Martin, Rachel Mondello, Erica Smotrycz and sophomore Chelsea Lim needed a first place finish to give the Huskies a chance at victory.

Adding to the Huskies’ difficulties, there was no functioning scoreboard. Therefore, head coach Roy Coates had to take matters into his own hands before the final race.

“I actually had been keeping tally myself the entire time, since there was no scoreboard,” Coates said. “I told the girls we needed a first place finish and a third place finish to tie, and they went out knowing they needed to give it their all. We needed everybody to be at their best in the relay, or we had no chance.”

The quartet of Martin, Mondello, Smotrycz and Lim delivered in the clutch and posted a first place finish, touching the wall at 1:36.70. This was enough to win the event and to break the Drexel 21-year-old pool record.

But the Huskies still needed a third place finish in the same race to tie Delaware.

Sophomores Nicole Colucci and Kelly Becherer, and freshman Dana Schleif and Adriana Sepulveda teamed up and posted the necessary third place finish, touching the wall at 1:39.93.

“We had a meeting after the race to celebrate the tie,” Coates said. “The girls were pretty excited about coming from behind the way they did.  Delaware is a fantastic team, and we couldn’t have afforded to slow up against them and still expect to leave with a win.”

However, Coates said he still had lingering questions about the final result of the race. While the girls were in the locker room, he headed to the scorer’s table to double check with race officials. Several minutes later, Coates appeared again and called another meeting with the team.

“I called another meeting with the girls to inform them that we hadn’t, in fact, tied Delaware,” Coates said. “My math had been wrong. In a defeated tone, I told the girls that the score had been 151 to 148. They were disappointed, of course, until I told them that we were the team who had posted the 151 points.”

Smotrycz, who anchored the winning relay team, said she and her teammates were very excited after they heard the actual result.

“It was probably the coolest experience I’ve been a part of while on this team,” Smotrycz said. “The energy is definitely going to carry over to the next week.”

The Huskies will return to familiar territory when they face non-conference opponent Siena on Senior Appreciation Day at Barletta Natatorium Jan. 22.