NEW LONDON, Conn. — Carthage College split against a pair of nationally ranked teams to wrap-up the Lady Reds’ action on the second full day of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Weekend at Connecticut College’s Jane Cadewell Lott Natatorium. Facing Division III No. 9-ranked Washington & Jefferson College, the Lady Reds could not muster enough offense in falling by a 6-4 count to the Presidents. However, Carthage avenged its defeat by turning back Division III No. 10 Macalester College and claiming a 10-6 victory over the Scots.
Following an earlier 15-6 defeat of Penn State Behrend in the Lady Reds’ opening game of the day, Carthage went to work against the league front-running Presidents of Washington & Jefferson with bragging rights and potential seeding ramifications for the league championship tournament on Saturday-Sunday, April 22-23, at Macalester in Saint Paul, Minn., on the line.
In a nip-and-tuck game which saw the two teams struggle to solve their opponent’s defense for the majority of the contest, it would be W&J that came out the victor thanks to a pair of fourth quarter goals by Liz Klock (Jr., New Lennox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central).
Locked in a three-all tie at the conclusion of the third quarter, Washington & Jefferson went in front to stay as Brittany Patterson (Sr., North Wales, Pa./North Penn) cleaved the Carthage defense for a marker with 4:41 on the clock to make it 4-3 and provide the Presidents with a lead for the first time since a 2-1 advantage on the scoreboard since the second quarter.
Klock followed with exactly three minutes left in regulation to notch the eventual game-winning score by handing W&J a 5-3 margin with the clock ticking away on a Carthage comeback bid.
Laura Larsen (Sr., Buffalo Grove, Ill./Lincolnshire-Stevenson) attempted to claw the Lady Reds back into the game by bombing a ball into the twine with 2:40 remaining to inch Carthage within 5-4. However, Klock uncorked a strike with 1:07 to play for the back-breaker in establishing the 6-4 final score.
The game was tight for its 32-minute duration as neither team led by more than a goal until Klock registered the game-winner in the fourth quarter.
Washington & Jefferson led early in the contest as Patterson pumped in the ice-breaker with 6:22 left in the opening frame. Madi Anderson (Fr., Napa, Calif./Vintage) responded for Carthage at 3:07 to knot the score at one-all.
Neither team would find the back of the cage again until the second quarter when Paige Adams (Fr., Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) caressed in a shot to put W&J back ahead at 2-1. The lead was short-lived, however, as Mack Ryan (Jr., Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) trucked down the tank for the equalizer prior to Jane Eckles (So., Merced, Calif./Merced) ringing the iron to make it 3-2 in favor of Carthage at halftime.
The Lady Reds stayed ahead until the waning moments of the third quarter when Macel Reising (Jr., Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) exploited a defensive lapse to laser in the balancing goal in making it 3-3 heading into the decisive fourth quarter.
Carthage received solo markers from Anderson, Eckles, Ryan and Larsen in suffering the loss.
For W&J, Klock and Patterson led the way with two goals apiece, while Adams and Reising each hit the twine once.
In the second to last game of a 10-contest slate, the Lady Reds finished on the winning side by finding a way to overcome the ranked Scots of Macalester, 10-6.
Allie Boothe (Jr., Wauconda, Ill./Mundelein) would prove to be the offensive hero for Carthage against Macalester as she netted a hat-trick to go along with pairs of goals by Carly Strass (Sr., Western Springs, Ill./La Grange-Lyons Township) and Eckles. Maggie Hennigan (Fr., Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley), Ryan and Larsen each accounted for single markers.
For Macalester, Lucille Moran (So., Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) and Cara Mullery (Fr., Palmetto Bay, Fla./MAST Academy) both notched pairs of tallies with Oriana Galasso (Fr., Gresham, Ore./Barlow) and Brooke Finney (Jr., Grand Rapids, Mich./Jenison) registering single goals.
Tied at six-all through two quarters of play, Carthage dominated the second half by putting away two goals in both the third and fourth quarters, while blanking the Scots’ offense over the span of the final 16-minutes, to collect a four-score win.
