SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Division III No. 8-ranked Austin College concluded a weekend trip to the West Coast for the Santa Clara Invitational hosted by Santa Clara University with defeats by California State University-Monterey Bay, 10-7, the host Broncos, 13-3, No. 25 California State University-Northridge, 16-4, and California State University-East Bay, 18-0.
On Saturday, February 18, the Kangaroos started the weekend by falling 10-7 against Cal State-Monterey Bay.
Austin jumped head 1-0 in the contest as Maddie Jacks put away a shot with 5:23 left in the first quarter. CSUMB knotted the score at one-all courtesy a strike by Allyson Ainsworth at 3:28 before Ainsworth staked the Otters to a 2-1 advantage at 1:33 to allow Monterey Bay to exit the first eight minutes with the lead.
A man-up score by Kaya Eaton with 6:37 left in the second quarter made it 3-1, but Jacks (5:57, man-up; 3:46) responded with back-to-back strikes to square the squads at three-all. Alyssa Ross pushed Austin back in front at 4-3 at 2:18 to allow the ‘Roos to go into halftime nursing a one-goal margin.
The lead last 18 seconds into the third quarter before Eaton stuffed in an equalizer at 7:42 to knot the teams at four-all. Easton struck again at 4:25 to put the Otters ahead 5-4 before Autumn Day posted an insurance marker at 4:03 to widen the gap to 6-4.
Cory McGrath chipped Austin’s deficit down to one at 6-5 with 2:48 on the clock, but Ximena Pichon answered by converting a six-on-five opportunity at 1:32 to once again make it a two-goal game at 7-5. Ainsworth further inflated the spread to 8-5 prior to the conclusion of the third quarter by lining in a shot with 40 seconds left.
The teams exchanged scoring shots to begin the fourth quarter as Ross (7:31) and Amanda Bennett (7:10) dented the twine prior to Jacks arching in a shot at 4:59 to move Austin back within a pair at 9-7.
However, Ainsworth put away the final coffin nail at 1:10 to make it 10-7.
For Austin, Jacks (four), Ross (two) and McGrath (one) accounted for the ‘Roos offense in support of a 10 save effort by netminder Erin McCormack.
Ainsworth (four), Eaton (three), Pichon (one), Day (one) and Bennett (one) combined for Cal State Monterey’s 10 goals. Megan Taylor earned the win between the pipes with 13 saves.
Facing host Santa Clara, the Broncos broke out of the pen for scoring advantages of 5-1 and 4-2 in the first and second quarters, respectively, before outscoring Austin 2-0 in both the third and fourth quarters for a 13-3 win.
Santa Clara raced out to a 4-0 lead by the 5:04 mark of the first quarter prior to McKenna Malone putting away a man-up chance at 2:35 to put the ‘Roos on the scoreboard. The Broncos got the goal back with 33 seconds left in the frame as Halley Seed fired in an answer to make it 5-1 after eight minutes of action.
Three consecutive scores in the first 2:09 of the second quarter ballooned Santa Clara’s lead to 8-1 before Emma Boyce snapped the run at 5:28 to inch Austin back within six goals at 8-2. Mila Erceg (2:58) and Ashley Chand (1:40) exchanged tallies to close out the first half as Santa Clara went into the break with a commanding 9-3 margin.
Following halftime, the Broncos bucked Austin by outscoring the defending Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Champions with 2-0 scoring advantages in the third and fourth quarters for the 13-3 final score.
Chand, Malone and Boyce combined for Austin’s three goals with McCormack making 10 saves in cage.
Kate Rodman and Lauren Voss both put away pairs of shots for Santa Clara, while Erceg, Seed, Natalie Brauser, Steph Nelson, Avary Torres, Megan Chambliss, Harper Daniels and Soph Harvey each accounted for solo markers. Liyara Senadheera made 18 saves to pick-up the victory between the pipes.
Austin came up short against Cal State Northridge by a 16-4 score on Sunday, February 19, prior to taking an 18-0 setback against CSU-East Bay.
Against Northridge, the Kangaroos were outscored 6-0 and 2-0 in the first and second quarters, respectively, prior to the Matadors acquiring a 10-0 lead by the conclusion of the third quarter thanks to another 2-0 outburst.
Following another CSUN strike 16 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it an 11-0 contest, Ross fired in Austin’s first goal at 7:34 and Lauren Olivier followed at 6:36 to move the ‘Roos to within 11-2. Back-to-back-to-back tallies by the Matadors at 6:19, 5:33 and 3:06 inflated the margin to 14-2 before McGrath (2;52) and Ross (2:26) sandwich another CSUN score (2:37) to make it 15-4. Northridge added a final blow with 29 seconds on the clock to establish the 16-4 final score.
Ross (two), Olivier and McGrath combined for Austin’s four goals, while McCormack stopped four shots in taking the loss.
In the final game of the weekend for Austin, the Pioneers of Cal State East Bay outscored the Kangaroos 3-0, 5-0, 5-0 and 5-0 to dominate the contest from the opening sprint to the final horn in an 18-0 shutout.
McCormack made nine saves for Austin.
