CLAREMONT, Calif. — Grace Clark had five goals and three assists to lead the host/Division III No. 1-ranked/Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges women’s water polo team to a 24-5 win over Division III No. 7/Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) runner-up Carthage College in the semifinal round of the USA Water Polo Division III Women’s Collegiate Championship at Axelrood Pool.
With the win, CMS moves on to face Division III No. 2/SCAIC runner-up Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Sunday, April 26, for the championship at 12:30 p.m. Pacific/3:30 p.m. Eastern after the Sagehens defeated Division III No. 5/CWPA Champion Macalester College in the other semifinal 23-2. Carthage will take on Macalester at 10:30 a.m Pacific/1:30 p.m. Eastern for Third Place.
The Third Place game will mark the fourth meeting of Carthage and Macalester in 2026 over the span of four states as the Scots defeated the Firebirds on February 14 (8-6 W at Macalester in St. Paul, Minn.) and March 14 (8-7 W OT at Carthage in Kenosha, Wisc.) during the regular season prior to picking up a 14-9 victory in the CWPA Division III Championship title game on April 12 at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass.
Caitlin Muñoz added three goals and three assists for the Athenas, while Isabel Del Villar had three goals and two assists, and Fiona Murphy added a goal. Senior goalies Mason Spencer and Natalie Stearns combined on five saves as well. Valerie Wraith had three goals and team-high four assists for CMS.
Pooja Bucklin scored twice for CMS, joining Mor and LaCour in the two-goal club. Grace Rich had a goal and two assists, Jasmine Tang had a goal and an assist, and Sydney Kroonen had a goal and an assist.
Murphy (7:37) and Muñoz (6:52, penalty shot) started off the game with goals before the Firebirds broke through with a tally by Kamile Graham (Jr., West Jordan, Utah/Kearns) with 6:26 remaining in the first quarter to make it 2-1. Jordan LaCour converted a six-on-five opportunity to give CMS back a 3-1 lead at the 6:05 mark before Clark cashed in another man-up bid at 4:22 to push the margin to 4-1.
Graham (2:27) and Brenna Carstens (Sr., Coronado, Calif./Coronado) (1:20, man-up) trimmed the Firebirds’ deficit to 4-3 before Muñoz scored via a counter with 29 seconds remaining in the first quarter to give CMS a 5-3 lead.
In the second quarter, Valerie Wraith (7:44), Muñoz (7:11), Clark (6:46), Del Villar (6:18) and Ionna Athena Mor (4:27) started the second quarter with five makers to build Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ lead to 10-3.
Morrigan Bushroe-Stumpf (Sr., Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) terminated the run at 3:53 by notching a man-up tally before Carstens connected on a natural goal at 3:02 to pull Carthage back to within 10-5.
However, Clark (2:07) and Grace Rich (1:33) got the goals back for the Athenas in the closing minutes of the second quarter to enter halftime holding a 12-5 lead.
Wraith (7:42), Clark (7:19), Del Viillar (5:21) and Bucklin (2:21; 1:26) pushed the lead to 17-5 by the conclusion of the third quarter prior to LaCour (7:44, penalty shot), Del Villar (7:00), Clark (6:23), Wraith (4:42), Mor (4:08), Tang (3:17, man-up) and Kroonen (24 seconds, man-up) denting the twine in the fourth quarter as CMS outscored Carthage 12-0 in the second half.
Graham (two goals, one assists), Carstens (two goals, one assist), Bushroe-Stumpf (one goal) and Kiera Crawley (So., Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea) (two assists) combined for the Firebirds’ offense. Edie Hamilton (So., Riverside, Ill./ Riverside-Brookfield) and Aubrey Korzyniewski (So., Grayslake, Ill./Warren Township) turned aside four and one shot, respectively.
Information courtesy Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Athletics Communications
