KENOSHA, Wis. — The No. 7-ranked Augustana College women’s water polo team picked up a pair of conference wins at Carthage College on the first day of a Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III-West Region weekend. The Vikings defeated Division III No. 5/defending CWPA Division III Champion Austin College, 13-8, prior to knocking off Wittenberg University, 11-6.
In the rematch of an 8-5 Austin win on March 19 at Augustana, Austin jumped out to a 2-0 lead with consecutive scores in the first two minutes before the Vikings answered with three in a row to close the opening quarter. Annie Opal Dickson earned the first goal for Augie at the 5:42 mark prior to Jillian Hagmann and Charlotte Newport finding the back of the net.
Less than two minutes into the second quarter, Dickson snagged her second goal of the game to put Augie up two. The two teams exchanged tallies to close the half, with the Vikings’ final goal of the second quarter coming from Carli Udovich to make it 5-3 at the break.
The Kangaroos got back within one early in the third quarter, but were met with back-to-back goals from Udovich and Casey Barragan to push the Vikings’ lead to their largest at the time. Udovich later countered an Austin score with her third of the contest to make it 8-5 in favor of Augustana heading into the final frame.
Despite enduring the best offensive quarter from the ‘Roos, the Vikings also put together their highest scoring output of the game, outscoring Austin 5-3 on their way to the five-point win. Dickson and Newport sparked the fast start to the quarter with consecutive scores, followed by a goal from Victoria Guest to keep the differential at five. After the ‘Roos cut it to three late, Barragan and Newport notched the final two goals of the game to help the Vikings pull away for good.
Udovich and Newport led the Augie offense with three goals apiece, while Lizzie Pelzman secured the win in net with 10 saves.
Augustana fell behind early against Wittenberg as the Tigers grabbed the first goal of the game. Augie responded swiftly, on their way to five in a row in the first quarter alone. Dickson notched the first tally of the contest for the Vikings, followed by three goals from Barragan and one from Newport. Wittenberg earned one final point before the end of the first to make it 5-2 Augustana after eight minutes of action.
The three-point advantage for the Vikings remained intact as the two squads exchanged two goals each way to begin the second period. Abbey Ellis got on the board for the first time to kick off the scoring in the frame for Augie, followed by Barragan’s fourth of the contest. Newport added a score with 1:12 remaining to move their lead to 8-4 heading into halftime.
Goals from Lauren Dickinson and Hagmann extended the margin to six in the third quarter before Dickson grabbed the final point of the game in the fourth to close things out for an 11-6 final score.
Barragan led the way with four goals, while Newport and Dickson also posted multi-score games. Pelzman finished with eight saves in the win.
With the wins, Augie improves to 11-5 on the season, surpassing their win total of nine from last year. They now sit 5-1 in conference play and hold the tiebreaker in goal differential versus Austin of +2 (13-8 win, 8-5 loss) to claim the No. 1 seed for the CWPA Division III Championship is the Vikings and ‘Roos conclude the season tied in the West Region standings.
Information courtesy Augustana College Athletics Communications
