Austin College-vs.-Penn State Behrend Scoresheet
NEW LONDON, Conn. — Brooke Le (Fr., Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound) scored six times and Player of the Game Lexi Wong (Fr., Lantana, Texas/Guyer) connected for eight strikes as Division III No. 10-ranked Austin College claimed its inaugural game at the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship with a 19-7 victory over Penn State Behrend at Connecticut College’s Jane Cadwell Lott ’36 Natatorium.
The first-year varsity program at Austin (7-8) advances to a semifinal showdown at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, versus the victor of a quarterfinal pitting CWPA Division III-East Region champion Grove City College versus CWPA Division III-West Region Fourth Place finisher Carthage College. The Kangaroos, who finished second in the CWPA Division III-West standings, are aiming to become the inaugural first-year varsity team to appear in the CWPA Division III Championship title game in the history of the league.
The ‘Roos wasted little time in constructing a lead which Penn State Behrend (3-19) was unable to overcome.
Back-to-back man-up goals by Le (6:50) and Presley Woods (Fr., Lantana, Texas/Guyer) (5:59) followed by an even-strength strike from Le (3:54) staked Austin to a 3-0 lead slightly over half-way through the first quarter.
Penn State Behrend struck back as Alison McClure (Jr., Loveland, Ohio/Milford) and Carson Hagood (So., Orlando, Fla./Bishop Moore Catholic) ticked off consecutive even-strength scores with 1:03 and 22 seconds left on the clock to move within 3-2. However, Wong dinged the Lions for a final blow in the opening eight minutes of action by finding the back of the cage with eight ticks left to make it 4-2.
McClure delivered an answer 51 seconds into the second quarter to once again move Penn State Behrend within one at 4-3. The single goal margin last for under a minute as Wong converted on a man-up bid at 6:24 and Le punched in a natural goal at the 6:10 mark to make it a 6-3 game.
JoJo Gager (So., Holland, Mich./West Ottawa) clipped one score off Penn State Behrend’s deficit at 3:10, but another man-up marker by Le with 2:43 on the clock allowed Austin to enter halftime with a 7-4 lead.
In the second half, a five-meter penalty shot by Wong 21 seconds into the third quarter widened the gap to 8-4, but Angela Laier (So., Lansing, Mich./Holt) (natural, 6:34) and Gager (man-up, 5:52) inched the Lions back within two at 8-6.
The teams then traded scoring blows with Madison Taylor (Fr., Copper Canyon, Texas/Marcus) drilling in another man-up chance at 4:35 for the ‘Roos prior to Lauren Wood (Sr., Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) wailing in a counterpoint for the Lions at 3:06 to expand and shrink the lead from three back to two at 9-7.
However, the remaining three minutes of the third quarter were all Kangaroos as Woods and Le flipped in even-strength tallies at 2:33 and five seconds, respectively, to sandwich another six-on-five conversion by Wong with 59 seconds on the clock to set the scoreboard at 12-7 entering the final eight minutes of competition.
From there, Austin poured on the offense with four strikes by Wong, and solo markers by Shannon Berry (Fr., Austin, Texas/Westwood), Le and Woods to account for 7-0 outburst in the fourth quarter.
The Kangaroos, which closed out the game with a 10-0 spurt going back to Woods tally at the 2:33 mark of the third quarter, commenced its fourth quarter fireworks 13 seconds into the final frame as Wong lined in a five-meter penalty shot. Le and Woods followed with power-play (7:01) and even-strength (6:27) heaves, respectively, before Berry bombed in yet another man-up conversion at 5:47 to make the score 16-7.
From there, Wong took over the game as she tickled the twine with back-to-back-to-back natural goals at 5:17, 4:44 and 4:16 to balloon the final margin up to 19-7 in the program’s first-ever varsity meeting with Penn State Behrend in the sport of women’s water polo.
For Austin, Wong and Le combined for 14 goals, while Woods also netted a hat-trick with three markers. Berry and Taylor both chipped in solo scores in support of a seven save performance by goalie Valery Piachonkina (Fr., Castro Valley, Calif./Mission San Jose).
Gager and McClure both scored twice to lead the way for Penn State Behrend, while Laier, Wood and Hagood each accounted for single strikes. Goalie Mackensie Robie (Fr., Girard, Pa./Girard) took the loss with three saves.
The defeat drops Penn State Behrend into the consolation side of the bracket as the Lions will take on Washington & Jefferson College – which fell to Wittenberg University by a 14-5 count in another opening round game – on Saturday, April 13 at 10:00 a.m. with hopes of playing its way back to the Fifth Place game.
It will mark the third meeting of the year between the Lions and Presidents as Penn State Behrend finished 1-1 against W&J in CWPA Division III-East Region play during the regular season with a 17-13 loss on March 10 and a 14-10 win on March 23.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Penn State Behrend | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | 7 |
| Division III No. 10 Austin College | 4 | 3 | 5 | 7 | – | 19 |
| Austin Goals: | Lexi Wong (8); Brooke Le (6); Presley Woods (3); Shannon Berry; Madison Taylor | |||||
| Penn State Behrend Goals: | JoJo Gager (2); Alison McClure (2); Angela Laier; Lauren Wood; Carson Hagood | |||||
| Saves: | Austin – Valery Piachonkina (7) ; Penn State Behrend – Mackensie Robie (3) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Austin – 5 ; Penn State Behrend – 14 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Austin – 10-for-14 ; Penn State Behrend – 1-for-5 | |||||
| Sprints: | Austin – 3-for-4 (1st, 3rd, 4th) ; Penn State Behrend – 1-for-4 (2nd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Austin – YC (Head coach Mark Lawrence, 3:32 left in 3rd Q) ; Penn State Behrend – YC (Head coach Joe Tristan, 5 secs left in 3rd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Gabriel Maldonado; Brad Peavey | |||||
Penn State Behrend’s Alison McClure (#5) tries to loft a shot over Austin College’s Presley Woods (#9)
Austin College’s Brooke Le (#7)
Austin College’s Teresa Robinson (#2) faces-off with Penn State Behrend’s Remy De Guzman (#19)
