ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Eleanor Michad (Sr., Long Grove, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) scored four times and Jayden Kratt (Fr., Palo Alto, Calif./Henry M. Gunn) stopped 12 shots as Division III No. 10-ranked Maclaester College withstood Wittenberg University, 9-5, to complete the opening weekend of Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III-West Region action at Augustana College.
Wittenberg claimed the early lead in the game as Elizabeth Schnexnaider (Jr., Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood) found Evelyn Heil (So., Fort Worth, Texas/ Carroll) for a strike 47 seconds into the game to stake the Tigers to a 1-0 advantage. The Scots answered at the 3:07 mark as Michaud finished a pass from Alana Nadolski (Fr., Kentwood, Mich./East Kentwood) to convert a six-on-five chance and knot the contest at one-all. The tie lasted until the 1:30 mark of the opening frame when Kendall Strauss (Fr., Round Rock, Texas/Round Rock) rifled in a pass from Nadolski to put Macalester in front at 2-1.
Neither team scored again until the 2:44 mark of the second quarter when Michaud cashed in on a pass from Jess Palmer-Sammons (Fr., Half Moon Bay, Calif./Half Moon Bay) to expand the Scots’ lead to 3-1. Kendall Coney (So., League City, Texas/Clear Creek) inflated the margin to 4-1 with 1:41 until halftime by burying a man-up opportunity thanks to a pass from Sydney Hollingsworth (Sr., Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township).
Wittenberg snapped Macalester’s momentum 16 seconds later as Bianca Gallegos (Fr., Sandia Park, N.M./Manzano) slipped in a shot at 1:25 to move the Tigers within a pair at 4-2. Michaud, via an assist from Brooke Lane (So., Meriden, Conn./Hopkins School), expanded the lead back to three at 5-2 with 1:02 on the clock, but Gallegos exploited an assist from Kailey Cordova (Sr., Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg ) with 37 seconds left in the first half to keep Wittenberg within striking distance at 5-3 heading into halftime.
The Tigers had a chance to chip their deficit down to one with 5:16 left in the third quarter, but a missed five-meter penalty shot by Cordova kept Maclaester in front by a pair.
The miss proved costly as Strauss struck again with 3:20 on the third quarter clock by converting a power-play opportunity off an assist from Hollingsworth to widen the gap to 6-3.
Lane inflated it further at the 2:11 mark by swishing a pass from Hollingsworth to put the Scots comfortably ahead at 7-3 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
Nadolski – off an assist from Michaud – added to the spread with 5:29 remaining in the fourth quarter, but Shania Stone () answered for Wittenberg at 3:24 via a feed from Cordova to keep the Tigers in the game at 8-4.
Michaud struck down the Tigers’ comeback hopes, however, by depositing a shot off an assist from Palmer-Sammons with 2:18 to play to return Macalester’s lead to five at 9-4.
Meghan Lythgoe (Sr., Mason, Ohio/Mason) attempted to spark a Wittenberg rally by finishing a pass from Cordova with 62 seconds left in regulation, but the margin was too much to overcome as Macalester held on for a 9-5 victory.
For Wittenberg, Gallego scored twice and snagged a steal, while Schexnaider (one assist, two steals), Lythgoe (one goal), Heil (one goal, one drawn exclusion), Stone (one goal, one steal) and Cordova (three assists, one steal, one drawn exclusion) also factored. Jordan Brough (Jr., North Palm Beach, Fla./Suncoast) took the loss with four saves.
Michaud (four goals, one assist, one steal), Strauss (two goals, one steal), Coney (one goal), Hollingsworth (three assists, five drawn exclusions, one steal), Lane (one goal, one assist, one drawn exclusion), Nadolski (one goal, two assists, one steal) and Strauss (two goals, one seal) accounted for Macalester’s offense in support of a 12 save effort by Kratt.
