GROVE CITY, Pa. — Goalie Val Piachonkina (Sr., Castro Valley, Calif./Mission San Jose) made four saves to earn Player of the Game status and the offense in front of her did the rest by putting up 20 goals in a 20-1 quarterfinal defeat of Carthage College at the 2022 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship hosted by Grove City College at Longnecker Competition Pool.
Austin (11-7, 8-0 CWPA Division III-West) earns a spot in the semifinals as the Kangaroos will take on the Scots of Macalester College at 12:40 p.m. on Friday, April 22. The game will pit two programs which can lay claim to the title of defending league champion as Austin defeated Wittenberg University by a 20-6 score to win a four-game, COVID-19 impacted CWPA Division III Championship in 2021 hosted by Carthage in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Historically, Macalester also holds the title of defending league champion as the Scots claimed the 2019 crown at Connecticut College in New London, Conn., by downing Austin in an 8-5 title game. Due to COVID-19 terminating the 2020 season and preventing Macalester from competing in 2021, the Scots – which previously claimed the 2017 and 2018 titles prior to the 2019 championship – are arguably still a reigning league title holder.
It will not mark the first meeting of the year between Austin and Macalester as the ‘Roos picked up 17-5 (March 27 at Wittenberg) and 16-4 (April 9 at Carthage) defeats of the Scots during the regular season.
Taking on Carthage (1-19, 0-8 CWPA Division III-West) for the third time in 2022 after acquiring 19-3 (March 26 at Wittenberg) and 19-0 (April 9 at Carthage) victories, Austin wasted little time in staking its claim to another championship run and a date with bragging rights on the line versus Macalester.
Madison Taylor (Sr., Copper Canyon, Texas/Marcus) broke the ice with 6:53 left in the first quarter by swishing a shot prior to Brooke Le (Sr., Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound) and Sophie Oliver (Sr., Houston, Texas/Langham Creek) putting away man-up chances at 4:53 and 4:24, respectively, to provide more than Piachonkina and the rest fo the ‘Roos needed to snuff the Firebirds.
Oliver (2:51), Aubrey Pasky (Jr., Paso Robles, Calif./Paso Robles) (1:30) and Shannon Berry (Sr., Austin, Texas/Westwood) (58 seconds) closed out the opening eight minutes of action by lofting in natural strikes to stake Austin to a 6-0 margin.
Gladys Contreras (Fr., Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley) broke-up the Kangaroos’ scoring spree by cashing in on a power-play bid 53 seconds into the second quarter, but Sammi Thiele (So., Keller, Texas/Keller) (6:05), Le (4:24, 4:07) and Lexi Wong (Sr., Lantana, Texas/Guyer) (2:37) completed the second quarter/first half with back-to-back-to-back-to-back markers to cushion Austin’s lead to 10-1 through 16 minutes.
The second half belonged exclusively to the squad from the Lone Star State as Le buried a man-up bid at 6:48 of the third quarter to reignite the ‘Roos offense.
Wong and Presley Woods (Sr., Lantana, Texas/Guyer) followed with even-strength scores at 6:22 and 5:43 prior to Oliver drilling in a power-play opportunity at 4:28 to make it a 14-1 contest. Cory McGrath (So., Flower Mound, Texas/Marcus) brought the curtain on the third quarter by lining in a shot at 3:29 as Austin entered the final eight minutes of regulation with a commanding 15-1 lead.
The ‘Roos continued to pad the difference in the fourth quarter as Woods (6:48), Maddie Jacks (Jr., Richmond, Texas/Foster) (4:48), Alyssa Ross (So., San Jose, Calif./Leland) (3:42) and McGrath (3:06, 52 seconds) notched insurance markers for the 20-1 final.
For Austin, Le (four), Oliver (three), McGrath (three), Woods (two) and Wong (two) all posted multi-goal games to accompany single tallies by Pasky, Taylor, Thiele, Jacks, Ross and Berry.
Contreras accounted for the Firebirds’ offense, while Evelyn Kajohn (Fr., Wauconda, Ill./Mundelein) stopped eight shots in taking the loss between the pipes.
The defeat drops Carthage into the consolation side of the bracket as the team will return to the water at 4:40 p.m. on Friday, April 22, against the winner of a game pitting Grove City and Utica College. A “W” against the Wolverines/Pioneers’ victor places the Firebirds in the Fifth Place game on Saturday, April 23.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Carthage College (1-19, 0-8 CWPA Division III-West) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 |
| Division III No. 5 Austin College (11-7, 8-0 CWPA Division III-West) | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | – | 20 |
| Austin Goals: | Brooke Le (4); Sophie Oliver (3); Cory McGrath (3); Presley Woods (2); Lexi Wong (2); Aubrey Pasky; Madison Taylor; Sammi Thiele; Maddie Jacks; Alyssa Ross; Shannon Berry | |||||
| Carthage Goals: | Gladys Contreras | |||||
| Saves: | Austin – Val Piachonkina (4); Carthage – Evelyn Kajohn (8) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Austin – 6 ; Carthage – 12 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Austin – 4-for-12 ; Carthage – 1-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | Austin – 4-for-4; Carthage – 0-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Michael Francis; Greg Sanchez | |||||
Austin College’s Lauren Olivier (#23) defends against Carthage College
Austin College’s Madison Taylor (#10) and Carthage College’s Alyssa Sayatovic (#2)
Austin College’s Presley Woods (#9) impedes the offensive efforts of Carthage College’s Taylor Woitesek (#4)
Austin College’s Lauren Olivier (#23) rises to shoot over Carthage College’s Alexandra Mears (#11)
