BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Carthage College women’s water polo team concluded Day Two of the Hoosier Invitational at Indiana University by falling to No. 25-ranked California Baptist University, 17-4, and managing the collegiate club team from McKendree University, 8-7.
In the day’s opener, Cal Baptist started the game with a 6-0 lead with 2:54 remaining in the first quarter before the Lady Reds responded. Carly Strass notched a power-play goal for Carthage at the 2:33 mark of the first quarter to narrow their deficit to 6-1.
The Lady Reds closed the opening frame with a pair of goals from Maggie Hennigan, but couldn’t narrow the gap in a 9-3 deficit at intermission. Cal Baptist strung together six goals to widen their lead to 15-3 with 7:01 remaining in the third quarter before Carthage tallied their final goal of the contest. Allie Boothe, who took a feed from Madi Anderson, fired a shot to the back of the net to make the score 15-4 at the 3:49 mark of the third quarter.
The Lady Reds held Cal Baptist to two goals for the remaining balance, but couldn’t generate enough offensive flair in a 17-4 loss. Goaltender Emma Jeronimus notched eight saves in a complete-game loss.
Facing the McKendree Bearcats, who will move from club status to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) varsity level in 2018, Carthage led or was tied with their collegiate club foe for the entirety of the game. The Lady Reds drew first blood at the 7:31 mark of the first quarter when Hennigan fired a shot to the back of the net to make the score 1-0. McKendree failed to score an even-strength goal the first three quarters of action as the Lady Reds found themselves with a 6-3 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Valerie Sorondo and Jillian Hoffman each tallied a goal for the Bearcats to cut Carthage’s lead to 6-5 with 5:18 left in the game. Hennigan and Anderson each netted goals to push the Lady Red’s lead to 8-5 before McKendree mounted a comeback.
The Bearcats notched a pair of goals to make the score 8-7 with 1:17 remaining in the game, which provoked both head coaches to use a timeout. Jeronimus stopped a Sorondo shot with under one minute left to help secure the one-goal victory for Carthage as the Lady Reds held a 28-24 advantage in shots.
Hennigan paced Carthage with four goals in the contest.
Release courtesy Carthage College Athletics Communications
Note: Per NCAA statistical rules, the McKendree game does not count as a varsity win for Carthage and is not considered for National Top 25 or Division III Top 10 Poll status.
