SHERMAN, Texas — The Division III No. 6-ranked Macalester College water polo team opened Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) play at Division III No. 10 Austin College. In their first game of the day, the Scots dominated Carthage College, 17-8. Facing Division III No. 5/defending CWPA Division III Champion Augustana College, Maclaester acquired their inaugural varsity victory versus the Vikings with a 7-5 win.
Against the Firebirds, the Scots fell in an early hole. Carthage rattled off three unanswered points to open the duel and led 5-1 until junior Jess Palmer-Sammons (Half Moon Bay, Calif./Half Moon Bay) punched in a goal with one second left on the quarter clock. Palmer-Sammons accounted for both Scots’ goals in the opening frame.
In the second quarter, Mac continued to struggle and trailed 4-7 at the half. After intermission, however, the Scots came alive. Palmer-Sammons slung in two quick goals to pull the Scots within a point before senior Kendall Coney (League City, Texas/Clear Creek) notched one of her own to tie the game. While Carthage reclaimed the lead a few possessions later, first year Anna Gaisser (Seattle, Wash./Ingraham) tied it up again and Palmer-Sammons gave Mac its first lead with just over three minutes to go in the third quarter.
From there, the Scots dominated as Macalester outscored the Firebirds by a 13-1 count in the second half, including a 9-0 run to close the game. The Firebirds scored their final point with 4:43 left on the third quarter clock. Mac scored nine points in the third quarter, their most in a single quarter all season.
Palmer-Sammons tallied five points in the third quarter alone and nine on the game. Those nine goals tie Catherine Flint ’12 for the most by a Scot in a single game. Flint logged the record first against Chatham University in 2010. Gaisser finished the game with three goals and four assists, while Coney tallied two goals.
The match against the Vikings got off to a similar start for the Scots, who fell behind 2-0 in the first quarter. In the second quarter, however, Mac found their sea legs and responded with a 4-0 period of their own. Coney, Gaisser, senior Sian Lewandowski (North Haven, Conn./Williston Northampton) and senior Olivia Dimka (Denton, Texas/John H. Guyer) each scored to give the Scots a two-point lead at the half.
From there, Macalester rode their lead to victory. Gaisser notched a pair of goals to keep the Vikings at bay in the third quarter, and a timely score from Palmer-Sammons in the fourth put Augustana away for good.
Junior goalkeeper Jayden Kratt (Palo Alto, Calif./Henry M. Gunn) logged a penalty block to help the Scots win the game. The 7-5 victory marks Macalester’s first win in program history over Augustana, a relatively new but dominant team in the CWPA. The Vikings had won the previous six matches against the Scots.
Gaisser led all Mac scorers in the second game with three goals, which brought her to six on the day. Palmer-Sammons finished the day with 10 markers, while Coney concluded with three.
Release courtesy Macalester College Athletics Communications
