Division III No. 7 Macalester College Does Not Give Up the ‘Ship in Stopping Connecticut College, 13-12, in Overtime for 2018 Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Championship Title

Macalester College-vs.-Connecticut College Scoresheet (PDF)

ERIE, Pa. — Oriana Galasso (So., Gresham, Ore./Central Catholic) scored five times, including the game-winner at the first overtime period’s concluding horn, as 2017 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Champion/Division III No. 7-ranked Macalester College Scots knocked off four-time Division III Champion Connecticut College by a 13-12 final score in overtime for the 2018 CWPA Division III Championship in the title game of the 2018 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship at the David M. Hallman Aquatics Center.

True to the battle-flag of the “Hero of Lake Erie” Oliver Hazard Perry (“Don’t Give Up the Ship”), who led the American forces in a decisive naval victory at the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812, the defending champion Scots (14-4, 10-0 CWPA Division III) fell behind early, rallied back to claim an 8-5 lead in the opening moments of the fourth quarter, survived a comeback by Connecticut (9-7, 7-3 CWPA Division III) and staved off the Camels’ overtime push by the narrowest of margins in refusing to give up the program’s championship title for at least another 12 months.

The game did not appear destined for a Scots’ victory in the opening moments of the first quarter as Connecticut, which entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed behind top-seeded Macalester and No. 2 seed Monmouth College, scored early and often against the reigning champs to build a 3-0 lead.

Shannon Cry (Sr., Monterey, Calif./Monterey) broke the offensive seal by rifling in a shot 48 seconds into the game to stake Connecticut to a 1-0 lead with 7:12 remaining in the first quarter.  April Anderson (Sr., Mill Valley, Calif./Tamalpais) delivered a man-up marker at 5:19 and 2018 CWPA Rookie of the Year/2018 CWPA Division III Champion Rookie of the Tournament Stephania Lopez (Fr., Chicago, Ill./Saint Ignatius College Prep) torqued in her team’s third tally at 4:43 as the Camels jumped out to a 3-0 lead less than 3:30 into the game.

Hannah Gray (Sr., Pasadena, Calif./South Pasadena) responded for Macalester at the 3:28 mark to cut into her team’s three-goal deficit, but Anderson hooked in a power-play chance at 2:47 to return Connecticut’s margin to three at 4-1.

Needing some offense to keep the Camels from pulling away and never looking back, Cara Mullery (So., Palmetto Bay, Fla./MAST Academy) and 2017/2018 CWPA Division III Most Valuable Player and 2017/2018 CWPA Division III Championship Most Valuable Player Lucille Moran (Jr., Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) went to work in chipping away at the margin with even-strength (2:22) and man-up (1:16) goals, respectively, to move Macalester within one at 4-3 after eight minutes of competition.

Connecticut’s lead permanently evaporated with 5:44 on the second quarter clock as Brooke Finney (Sr., Grand Rapids, Mich./Jenison) finished a natural goal for the equalizer to make it a four-all game.  The Scots took the lead and added some insurance over the next 4:21 as Gray put Macalester in the black with 2:14 on the clock and Mullery converted a six-on-five opportunity at the 1:23 mark to push the defending champions into the lead at 6-4.

Anderson snapped the Scots’ five-goal scoring streak exactly one-minute later by slipping in a shot with 23 ticks on the clock, but Galasso launched in a counterpoint with two seconds remaining to keep Macalester’s lead at a pair (7-5) entering halftime.

Galasso put home her second consecutive marker to open the second half and make it 8-5 with 6:42, but Anderson continued to pester the Scots by notching her fourth score at 5:36 to permit Connecticut to hang around at 8-6.

Macalester appeared primed to salt the game away as Galasso completed a hat-trick with her squad’s third exclusion score with 4:32 remaining in the third quarter to make it 9-6, but Connecticut refused to go down without a fight.

Back-to-back blasts by Lopez at 3:44 and 2:52, followed by a blow from Kaitlin Reagan (So, Saratoga, Calif./St. Francis) with 48 seconds left on the clock put to rest any doubts regarding the Camels desire for a fifth CWPA Division III Championship as the teams entered the final eight minutes of regulation deadlocked at nine-all.

The fourth quarter was marked by back-and-forth action as the Scots pulled ahead and Connecticut answered.

Following 3:39 of scoreless play in the final frame of regulation, Finney fired a ball into the cage with 4:21 remaining to stake Macalester to a 10-9 lead.  Sophia Soriano (Sr., Summerland, Calif./Cate School) tied the game at 10-all with 3:49 to go, but Galasso notched her fourth marker of the contest 12 seconds later (3:37) to place Macalester within 217 seconds of winning back-to-back CWPA Division III Championships.

However, Soriano had other ideas by converting on the exclusion of Mullery with 38 seconds remaining to zip in a man-up goal to balance the scoreboard at 11-all and force the second consecutive overtime game for a CWPA Division III Championship title.

Last year, Moran scored the game-winning goal with 18 seconds left in the second overtime period to help the then Division III No. 10 Scots top then Division III No. 9 Washington & Jefferson College by a 10-9 final score at home in Riley Pool.

Fast forward 12-months where the hero and quarter of decision changes, but the outcome remains the same for Macalester.

Competing in two three-minute OT frames prior to commencing with sudden death, the Scots went ahead once more as Moran juked and wailed in her second strike at the 2:13 mark to make it 12-11.  Lopez countered with her fourth tally of the game with 1:50 left to even the score at 12-all.

Neither team was able to add another crocked number onto the scoreboard until Galasso made history by beating the clock and Camels’ netminder Ginny McCool (So., Delray Beach, Fla./Saint Andrew’s School) with the game-winner as the horn sounded to stake Macalester to a 13-12 lead.

Goalie Courtney Overland (Jr., Honolulu, Hawaii/Iolani) and the Scots’ defense made Galasso’s marker stand-up as Macalester was unable to insulate and Connecticut failed to eradicate the lead over the second, three-minute OT period.

For the now two-time CWPA Division III Champion Scots, which downed Connecticut by an 8-4 score in New London, Conn. on March 11 during regular season play, five players found the back of the cage with Galasso (five), Gray (two), Mullery (two) and Moran (two) posting multi-score games and Finney chipping in a single goal. Overland stopped 15 shots to claim the win between the pipes as Macalester has now won both CWPA Division III Championship title games the Scots have appeared in.

Connecticut, which previously claimed the 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2015 crowns, suffers its inaugural setback in the CWPA Division III Championship title game after previously topping Grove City College (2013) and Washington & Jefferson College (2014, 2015, 2016).

For the Camels, Anderson (five), Lopez (three) and Soriano (two) accounted for 10 of their team’s goals with Cry and Reagan tacking on the other pair.  

In cage, the duo of Sarah Nappo (Sr., Portland, Maine/Cheverus) and McCool, both of whom primarily competed in the field during the regular season, combined for five saves.  McCool took the loss as the goalie of record when the game-winning goal was recorded by Galasso.

Historically, the title game guaranteed that the list of all-time CWPA Division III Champions would remain at three team as Grove City (2010, 2011, 2012), Connecticut (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) and Macalester (2017, 2018) have combined for all nine contested league championship tournaments since the inaugural one in 2010.

	1st Q	2nd Q	3rd Q	4th Q	OT1	OT2	–	FINAL
Connecticut College	4	1	4	2	1	0	–	12
Macalester College	3	4	2	2	2	0	–	13
Macalester Goals:	Oriana Galasso (5); Lucille Moran (2); Brooke Finney (2); Hannah Gray (2); Cara Mullery (2)
Connecticut Goals:	Stephania Lopez (4); April Anderson (4); Sophia Soriano (2); Kaitlin Reagan; Shannon Cry
Saves:	Macalester – Courtney Overland (15) ; Connecticut – Sarah Nappo (1, 16 minutes), Ginny McCool (4, 22 minutes)
Exclusions:	Macalester – 6 ; Connecticut – 8
Advantage Opportunities:	Macalester – 3-for-8 ; Connecticut – 3-for-6
Sprints:	Macalester – 0-for-6 ; Connecticut – 6-for-6
Cards/Misconducts:	YC – Connecticut (Head Coach Matt Anderson, 41 seconds left in 4th Q)
Officials:	Humberto Navarro, JR Perez