NEW LONDON, Conn. — Carli Udovich (So., Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central), Casey Barragan (Jr., Commerce, Calif./La Serna/Fresno State University) and Jersey Merrick (So., Chicago, Ill./Chicago High School of Agricultural Sciences) each scored four times to share Player of the Game recognition as defending Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Champion/regular season champion/Division III No. 5-ranked Augustana College claimed a 22-4 victory over Grove City College in the fifth and final game on the first day of the 2024 CWPA Division III Championship hosted by Connecticut College at the Jane Cadwell Lott ’36 Natatorium.
Augustana (17-3, 8-0 CWPA Division III) punches the program’s ticket back to the semifinals as the Vikings will square-off with Washington & Jefferson College – which topped Connecticut College by a 9-4 score earlier in the day – on Saturday, April 20, at 2:30 p.m. Eastern/11:30 a.m. Pacific. Augustana is 1-0 against Washington & Jefferson in 2024 as the team claimed a 16-8 league victory on March 23 at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.
Grove City (4-14, 1-7 CWPA Division III) – which upended Wheaton College earlier in the day by a 14-4 score to earn the meeting with Augustana – returns to the water at 5:30 p.m. Eastern/2:30 p.m. Pacific on April 20 to take on the loser of a consolation game pitting the host Camels of Connecticut College and Wheaton. The winner of the Wolverines’ next game will play for Fifth Place on Sunday, April 21, while the loser will appear in the Seventh Place game.
Augustana – which has placed second (2022) and first (2023) in the program’s two prior CWPA Division III Championship tournament appearances – wasted little time and effort in putting the game versus Grove City out of reach. Ocean Akau (Jr., Pana’ewa, Hawaii/Kamehameha) (7:16), Anita Rodgers (Fr., Salt Lake City, Utah/Kearns) (6:52), 2022 CWPA Division III-West Region and 2023 Most Valuable Player Barragan (6:22, 4:51) and Newport (5:40) inflicted all the damage the defending CWPA Division III Champions needed to pick up the win by combining for a 5-0 run in the games first 3:09.
Kamryn Kerr (Jr., East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) terminated the run by connecting for Grove City’s first goal with 4:37 left in the first quarter.
However, the Vikings went back to rampaging in short order as two-time MVP Barragan completed a first quarter hat-trick with 3:03 on the clock courtesy her third strike of the game to return a five-goal lead to Augustana at 6-1.
The Rock Island, Ill., institution continued to roll in the second quarter as Udovich (7:37), Newport (7:04), Abigail Gatlin (Fr., Pearland, Texas/Glenda Dawson) (5:53) and Barragan (23 seconds) exchanged strikes with Grove City’s Kiley Sill (So., Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) (7:18) and Shastyn Tihansky (Fr., Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton) (4:30) to widen the gap to 10-3 heading into halftime.
Tihansky lined in a shot with 6:31 left in the third quarter to shave Augustana’s lead back to 10-4, but Augustana inflicted Ragnarok over the remainder of the contest by going berserk to outscore the Wolverines 12-0.
Alayna Ickert (Fr., Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound) (4:34), Annelie McGhee (Fr., Windermere, Fla./Olympia) (3:40, 1:06) and Merrick (1:40, four seconds) accounted for a 5-0 outburst over the remainder of the third quarter, while Akau (5:24), Ickert (4:44 man-up), Udovich (4:03, 3:24, 41 seconds) and Merrick (2:44, 2:07) combined for a 7-0 surge in the fourth quarter as the Vikings ransacked the Wolverines’ cage in the final 12 and a half minutes of competition.
For Grove City, Tihansky (two), Sill and Kerr combined for the Wolverines’ four goals. Lea Steen (So., Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) stopped eight shots guarding the posts and crossbar.
Udovich (four), Barragan (four), Merrick (four), Akau (two), Newport (two), McGhee (two) and Ickert (two) posted multi-goal games to combine for 20 of Augustana’s 22 strikes. Rodgers and Gatlin gunned in solo tallies to support a 15-save performance by goalkeeper Natalie Abril (Fr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Alta Loma).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Grove City College |
1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | 4 |
| Division III No. 5 Augustana College | 6 | 4 | 5 | 7 | – | 22 |
| Augustana Goals: | Carli Udovich (4); Casey Barragan (4); Jersey Merrick (4); Ocean Akau (2); Charlotte Newport (2); Annelie McGhee (2); Alayna Ickert (2); Anita Rodgers; Abigail Gatlin | |||||
| Grove City Goals: | Shastyn Tihansky (2); Kiley Sill; Kamryn Kerr | |||||
| Saves: | Augustana – Natalie Abril (15) ; Grove City – Lea Steen (8) |
|||||
| Exclusions: | Augustana – 6 ; Grove City – 4 |
|||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Augustana – 1-for-4 ; Grove City – 0-for-6 |
|||||
| Sprints: | Augustana – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 3rd) ; Grove City – 1-for-4 (4th) |
|||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Joe Peila, Alex High | |||||
Grove City College’s Clarie Lochstet (#15) lines up a shot as Augustana College’s Ocean Akau (#5) & Casey Barragan (#16) defend & pursue
Grove City College’s Kamryn Kerr (#2) scans for an opening as Augustana College’s Summer Chalmers (#10) defends
Grove City College’s Clarie Lochstet (#15) closes on Augustana College’s Charlotte Newport (#4)
