Carthage College-vs.-Austin College Scoresheet
NEW LONDON, Conn. — Goalie Valery Piachonkina (Fr., Castro Valley, Calif./Mission San Jose) made eight saves and Lexi Wong (Fr., Lantana, Texas/Guyer) recorded three goals to share Player of the Game accolades as Division III No. 10-ranked Austin College made history by topping Carthage College, 7-2, in the semifinals of the 2019 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship hosted at Connecticut College’s Jane Cadwell Lott ’36 Natatorium.
Austin (8-8), which finished second in the CWPA Division III-West Region behind two-time (2017, 2018) reigning league champion Macalester College, will have a chance to make more history and avenge a pair of regular season defeats by the Scots when the squad faces the defending champs at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, at the Lott Natatorium for the CWPA Division III league crown.
The Kangaroos, who become the inaugural first-year varsity program to advance to a CWPA Championship title game in the history of the league, fell to Macalester on March 2 (11-7 L a Wittenberg University) in the first varsity game in program history. The Scots completed a regular season sweep of Austin on March 30 at home in Saint Paul, Minn., by edging the ‘Roos by an 8-6 count.
Facing Carthage (4-14), Austin jumped on the Lady Reds early and didn’t let up until the final horn.
Following nearly three and a half minutes of scoreless water polo to start the game, Presley Woods (Fr., Lantana, Texas/Guyer) placed Austin in front to stay by ripping in a shot with 4:32 on the first quarter clock. She found the back of the cage again with 17 seconds left in the frame to make it 2-0 prior to Wong building the margin to 3-0 with 5:05 to play in the second quarter.
Carthage cut into its deficit with 2:35 until halftime as Morgan Fingerson (Jr., San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch) slipped in a shot to move the Lady Reds within a pair at 3-1.
Sophie Flott (Fr., Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) put Carthage on the doorstep of rallying back by opening the third quarter with a blast at the 6:28 mark, but it would be the last goal the ‘Roos permitted as Piachonkina and the Austin defense shutout the Lady Reds over the final 14:28.
Leading by one at 3-2 going into the fourth quarter, Austin iced the victory as Wong (7:47, 3:53), Madison Taylor (Fr., Copper Canyon, Texas/Marcus) (5:45) and Brooke Le (Fr., Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound) (4:14) cut down Carthage with back-to-back-to-back-to-back goals to balloon the final margin to 7-2.
For Austin, Wong (three) and Woods (two) posted multi-score games, while Taylor and Le both tacked on solo markers.
Carthage, which falls to 0-3 versus Austin in 2019 following 15-3 (March 3 at Wittenberg) and 8-7 (March 31 at Macalester) regular season CWPA Division III-West Region losses, received single goals from Fingerson and Flott. In cage, Emma Jeronimus (Jr., Hoffman Estates, Ill./Fremd) turned away 10 scoring tries in taking the loss.
The runner-up at the inaugural CWPA Division III Championship in 2010, Carthage will seek to continue a run of Third Place finishes on Sunday, April 14, against Monmouth College at Noon. It will mark the fourth meeting of the year between the Lady Reds and Fighting Scots as Carthage fell by a 13-10 count on February 24 during the Macalester Invitational, dropped a 15-6 game in league play at Wittenberg on March 2 and suffered a 13-5 setback on March 31 at Maclaester.
Historically, it marks the seventh time Carthage will appear in the Third Place game since the CWPA Division III Championship began in 2010 as the Lady Reds previously finished second (2010), third (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), fourth (2013), and fifth (2011, 2012).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Division III No. 10 Austin College | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | – | 7 |
| Carthage College | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 2 |
| Carthage Goals: | Morgan Fingerson; Sophie Flott | |||||
| Austin Goals: | Lexi Wong (3); Presley Woods (2); Madison Taylor; Brooke Le | |||||
| Saves: | Carthage – Emma Jeronimus (10) ; Austin – Valery Piachonkina (8) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Carthage – 12 ; Austin – 5 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Carthage – 0-for-5 ; Austin – 0-for-12 | |||||
| Sprints: | Carthage – 0-for-4 ; Austin – 4-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Val Vasilchikov; Jamie Wolff | |||||
Austin College’s Kendall Katusak (#5) cocks to fire a shot as Carthage College’s Arianna Dakuras (#9) attempts to prevent the attempt
Carthage College’s Morgan Fingerson (#14) spots an opening as an Austin College defender pursues
Austin College’s Brooke Le (#7) defends Carthage College’s Heather Walker (#5)
