Kristin Lampley

GROVE CITY, Pa.  -- Kristin Lampley (Jr., Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) and Nicky Jasbon (Fr., Greenacres, Fla./Saint Andrew) netted hat-tricks to get the Connecticut College Camels over the hump in silencing the Wheaton College Thunder 11-4 in the third place game of the 2012 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship at Grove City College.

Connecticut (9-10, 8-5 CWPA Division III) establishes a new mark for the program's highest finish at the CWPA Division III Championship as the Camels previously placed fifth (12-9 W vs. Macalester) in 2010 at Utica College and sixth (14-9 L vs. Carthage) in 2011 at Macalester.  In addition, the victory avenged a 6-5 loss to the Thunder during the league's regular season competition.

The Camels wasted no time in taking control of the contest as Lampley rattled the cage with natural (7:26) and extra-man (6:48) goals in the first 90 seconds of action to put Connecticut in front for good.  Jasbon and Katie Mullaley (Sr., Hingham, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) followed with even-strength strikes at 4:58 and 1:12, respectively, to stake their team to a 4-0 lead through eight minutes of play.

Wheaton failed to chop the lead below a pair the rest of the way, but the Thunder would not so silently into the night without a fight. 

Kathryn Sheehy (Sr., Ventura, Calif./Foothill Technology) broke the ice for Wheaton at 5:37 of the second quarter with a man-up score, but Emily Hunter (Sr., Cheshire, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall) responded at 5:23 for the Camels to return the margin to four at 5-1.

The pattern repeated itself at 4:24 and 3:56 as the Thunder's Linley Sullivan (Jr., Poway, Calif./Poway) closed the gap to 5-2 before Jasbon answered to make it a 6-2 game.

Wheaton finally was able to chop the margin below four prior to the halftime buzzer as Heather Crockett (Sr., San Mateo, Calif./Aragon) cocked and fired a shot that eluded netminder Pamela Lovejoy (Jr., Guilford, Conn./Hopkins School) with 3:33 left in the first half to pull the Thunder within 6-3.

The momentum appeared to shift in the dawning moments of the third quarter as Hannah Hibbs (Fr., San Mateo, Calif./Aragon) collected a pass off the opening sprint and buried the feed past Lovejoy to move Wheaton within 6-4.

However, the Camels' defense stiffened for the remainder of the half, while the quartet of Lampley, Jasbon, Megan Wright (Jr., Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa) and Hunter accounted for a 5-0 scoring run to the closing horn for the seven-goal victory.

Lampley ignited the spree with 5:55 to go prior to Jasbon (4:25) and Wright (00:41) following in kind for a 9-4 lead at the conclusion of the third period.

Wright struck again at the 5:47 mark of the fourth period and Hunter closed the book on the Camels' season at 1:07 with a score off an man-up chance.

For Wheaton, Karalee Angus (Jr., San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) finished with 10 saves, while Crockett, Hibbs, Sheehy and Sullivan each registered solo scores.

Lovejoy earned the win for Connecticut as the third-year netminder put up eight saves.  Hunter and Wright joined Jasbon and Lampley in posting multi-goal games for the Camels.

A key to the game was both teams ability to score on man-up chances as Wheaton went one-for-six, with Connecticut converting on three-of-eight power-play opportunities.

Wheaton (10-7, 8-5 CWPA Division III) finishes the tournament in fourth place, one spot lower than its marks in both 2011 (8-1 W vs. Macalester at Macalester) and 2010 (12-7 W vs. Washington & Jefferson College at Utica College).  Entering the 2012 tourney, the Thunder held the second best finish over the three-year history of the CWPA Division III Championship behind only 2010 and 2011 champion Grove City.

Wheaton Goals: Heather Crockett; Hannah Hibbs; Kathryn Sheehy; Linley Sullivan

Connecticut Goals: Nicky Jasbon (3); Kristin Lampley (3); Megan Wright (2); Emily Hunter (2); Katie Mullaley 

Saves: Wheaton - Karalee Angus (10) ; Connecticut - Pamela Lovejoy (8)

Exclusions: Wheaton - 8 ; Connecticut - 6

Advantage Opportunities: Wheaton - 1-for-6 ; Connecticut - 3-for-8

Sprints: Wheaton - 4-for-4 ; Connecticut - 0-for-4

Cards: None

Officials: Bruce Morehouse, JT Wall

Connecticut College's Kristin Lampley defends Wheaton College's Kathryn Sheehy