NEW LONDON, Conn. — Division III No. 10-ranked Macalester College defeated Monmouth College, 10-1, and then needed to claim one of the oddest games of the season, twice, in surviving against Penn State Behrend in overtime, 10-8, to conclude the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III weekend tournament at Connecticut College’s Jane Cadwell Lott Natatorium.
In the opening game of the day pitting the Scots of Macalester against the Fighting Scots of Monmouth in a war of clans, the squad from the North Star State ran out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter and expanded the margin to 6-1 by halftime versus the team from the Land of Lincoln. Macalester put the game out of reach in the second half as the program added a goal in the third quarter and two more over the final eight minutes of play to claim a commanding 10-1 victory versus Monmouth.
The Scots’ offense came primarily from a some youngsters as Cara Mullery (Fr., Palmetto Bay, Fla./MAST Academy), Oriana Galasso (Fr., Gresham, Ore./Barlow) and Lucille Moran (So., Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) each recorded hat-tricks to account for 90 percent of Macalester’s scoring in the game. Brooke Finney (Jr., Grand Rapids, Mich./Jenison) tacked on the lone score not put away by MGM trio in support of goalie Courtney Overland (So., Honolulu, Hawaii/Iolani).
Sarah Wright (So., McHenry, Ill./West) accounted for Monmouth’s goal.
Overall, Macalester actually had its games end three times as the Scots’ 10-8 overtime victory versus Penn State Behrend concluded with a 6-5 win.
However, a protest by Penn State Behrend head coach Joe Tristan regarding possession of the ball and the proper timing of a timeout call was upheld forcing the final 28 seconds to be replayed and set off one of the wackiest endings in the sport this year.
Leading 4-3 at halftime and going into the fourth quarter, the Lions of Penn State Behrend saw their margin evaporate into a 6-5 deficit in the duration of 93 seconds in the closing moments of the fourth quarter.
Held scoreless since the 6:36 mark of the second quarter, Macalester finally broke through to tie the game at four-all with 3:16 left in regulation as Moran unloaded a shot past Lions’ netminder Kara Stegmann (Sr., Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area).
64 seconds later the Scots claimed their first lead since a 2-1 advantage with 3:08 left in the first quarter as Natalie Hoffman (So., Seattle, Wash./Inglemoor) cashed in on an exclusion against Clare Jefferys (So., Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) to make it 5-4 with 2:12 to go.
Following a yellow card to Tristan concurrent with the goal, Hoffman struck again with 1:57 left to widen the margin to a then game-high two score lead at 6-4.
Penn State Behrend refused to go silently, however, as the Lions called a timeout with 1:56 left and then found Maryn Horn (Jr, Houston, Texas/Jersey Village) for a tally at 1:43 to shrink the margin down to 6-5.
Neither team was able to put another goal away over the following 1:15 to set-up the climatic period of the game in which Macalester held the ball with 30 seconds remaining and the shot clock winding down.
With two seconds left on the shot-clock, Macalester head coach Scott Reed blow the air-horn for a timeout as his player dumped the ball into the corner. The timeout was not awarded as the Lions collected the ball and went on offense prior to time running out and Macalester apparently claiming a 6-5 victory.
Pause there…..and refer to first hand accounts of what occurred as ink and paper did not record the ensuing drama.
Immediately after the final horn sounded, Penn State’s Tristan approached the officials and argued that the Macalester player was not in possession of the ball when the timeout horn sounded. Per rule, a penalty shot should be awarded.
Following conversation, it was determined by the officiating crew that the player was not in possession of the ball at the time of the signal, it was a correctable error, the game clock should be reset to 28 seconds and the Lions would be awarded a penalty shot.
Bring on Lauren Wood (So., Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) who swished the five-meter one-on-one with Overland to tie the game and apparently set the stage for overtime.
The game then changed from strange to Hitchcockian in a battle of the sixes as Macalester’s No. 6 Moran whipped a ball across the plane of the water and into the cage with 18 seconds remaining to put the Scots back in front at 7-6 and apparently conclude the game with both team’s one score higher at 7-6.
However, Jefferys turned the game, which at this point had advanced from dramatic, to odd, to strange and quickly onto bizarre, back into a dead-heat as the Lions No. 6 hurled in a half-tank “Hail Mary” that found the back of the cage with two seconds left to knot the score at seven-all and bring on overtime.
The teams exchanged scoring blows in the first three-minute OT frame as Brittany Pinter (Sr., Erie, Pa./McDowell) placed Penn State Behrend back in front at 8-7 for the first time since the 3:17 mark of the fourth quarter. Moran eradicated the differential 44 seconds later with 49 ticks left on the clock to once again draw the teams even at eight-all.
Mullery and Moran did the rest for Macalester as the duo deposited dimes at 2:38 and 1:09, respectively, to record the game-winner and some insurance as the Scots escaped with delayed and unlikely 10-8 victory.
The game was tight throughout as Jefferys put the Lions in front at 1-0 with 5:55 left in the first quarter. Moran and Mullery turned the tables on Penn State Behrend with back-to-back tallies at the 5:17 and 3:08 marks, bit Alison McClure (Fr., Loveland, Ohio/Milford) posted the equalizer at the 1:31 mark to lock the teams into a two-all tie after eight minutes of competition.
Penn State Behrend regained the lead twice in the second quarter as Wood (6:52) and Jefferys (4:36) surrounded a score by Moran at 6:36 to provide the Lions at 4-3 lead at halftime.
The margin would hold up through the third quarter as neither team could muster another goal prior to Moran lighting the fuse for the eclectic ending(s) and the concluding offensive fireworks.
Moran led the way for Macalester with six goals, including four over the span of the fourth quarter and overtime. Mullery and Hoffman both tacked on pairs to account for the remainder of the Scots’ scoring output in helping Overland finish 2-0 for the day.
Jefferys keyed the Lions with a hat-trick. Wood added two goals, with McClure, Horn and Pinter registering solo markers in support of Stegmann.
