CLAREMONT, Calif. — Division III No. 2-ranked/Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) runner-up Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges overwhelmed Division III No. 6/Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Champion Augustana College, 23-9, in a semifinal at the 2024 USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Championship.
The result advances CMS into the title game at Noon Pacific/3:00 p.m. Eastern against SCIAC Champion/host/Division III No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, while Augustana will face CWPA Division III Championship runner-up/Division III No. 7 Austin College at 10:00 a.m. Pacific/1:00 p.m. Eastern. Pomona-Pitzer topped Austin by a 26-6 score in the earlier semifinal.
The Athenas wasted no time in sacking the Vikings as Mia Adsen (5:18; 4:46; 2:33), Valerie Wraith (3:18) and Elise Power (1:52) sent five shots to Valhalla to build a 5-0 lead in the game’s first 6:08 of action. Charlotte Newport (Jr., Baytown, Texas/Ross S, Sterling) scored with exactly one minute left in the opening frame as Augustana closed to within 5-1 heading into the second quarter.
Grace Clark (7:32) and Ocean Akau (Jr., Pana’ewa, Hawaii/Kamehameha) (7:18) traded goals during the first forty-two seconds of the second quarter Dara Schoolcraft (6:50), Clark (6:10), Cooper McKenna (5:42) and Isabel Del Villar (5:18; 4:35) pounded in five goals to inflate Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ lead to 11-2.
Annelie McGhee (Fr., Windermere, Fla./Olympia) stopped the run by converting a man-up chance at the 4:10 mark, but Del Villar countered with a power-play strike for CMS at 3:41 before Cassandra Ruedy (3:23), Del Villar (2:43) and Schoolcraft (1:55) piled on natural tallies to provide the Athenas a comfortable 15-3 margin in the waning moments of the second quarter.
Newport (41 seconds) and Wraith (27 seconds) exchanged successful heaves in the final minute of the first half as the teams went to their corners with CMS clutching a 16-4 margin through 16 minutes of action.
The Athenas continued to shovel in additional goals as Adsen (7:37), McKenna (6:48) and Wraith (5:17) dented the twine before Akau (3:38) delivered a counterpoint in the third quarter. Del Villar (47 seconds) and Waiahuli Akau (Fr., Pana’ewa, Hawaii/Kamehameha) (25 seconds) closed out the frame’s scoring as CMS entered the fourth quarter with a 20-6 lead.
The teams exchanged trios of scoring blows in the contest’s final eight minutes as Casey Barragan (Jr., Commerce, Calif./La Serna/Fresno State University) put away shots at 6:21 and 2:51 to bookend answers from Schoolcraft (5:56, 5:22), while Olivia Cairns (39 seconds) and Ocean Akau (30 seconds, penalty shot) spun in last minute strikes.
For CMS, Del Villar (five goals, three assists), Adsen (four goals, two assists), Schoolcraft (four goals, two assists), Wraith (three goals, two assits), Clark (two goals, two assists), McKenna (two goals, two assists), Ruedy (one goal, two assists), Power (one goal, one assist), Cairns (one goal), Lily Pashman (one assist) and Caitlin Munoz (one assist) combined for the Athenas’ 23 goals and 18 assists.
Mason Spencer (four goals against, three saves) and Natalie Stearns (five goals against, one save) played the first and second halves, respectively, in guarding Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ cage.
Ocean Akau (three goals), Barragan (two goals), Newport (two goals, two assists), Waiahuli Akau (one goal, one assist), McGhee (one goal, one assist)
Olivia Parry (So., Wilsonville, Ore./Wilsonville) (one assist), Abigail Gatlin (Fr., Pearland, Texas/Glenda Dawson) (one assist), Mary King (So., Bakersfield, Calif./Garces Memorial/California Baptist University) (one assist), Anita Rodgers (Fr., Salt Lake City, Utah/Kearns) (one assist) and Annie Opal Dickson (Jr., Imperial Beach, Calif./Mar Vista) (one assist) accounted for the Vikings rampage in support of goalkeepers Lizzie Pelzman (Jr., Roseville, Calif./Roseville) (16 minutes, 16 goals against, four saves) and Susan Palmentera-Reid (Fr., Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech) (16 minutes, seven goals against, two saves).
