GROVE CITY, Pa. — Alyssa Fricker (Fr., Foothill Ranch, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) scored seven times – including a quartet in the first quarter to stake Division III No. 9-ranked Augustana College to a 4-0 lead – as the Vikings claimed a 17-2 victory versus Penn State Behrend in the opening round of the 2022 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship hosted by Grove City College.
Competing at GCC’s Longnecker Competition Pool, Augustana (8-11, 6-2 CWPA Division III-West) claimed the program’s inaugural victory in its first CWPA Division III Championship by overpowering the Lions of Penn State Behrend (7-16, 5-3 CWPA Division III-East) and jumping out to a 7-0 lead with the clock approaching halftime.
Fricker inflicted all the damage needed to claim victory in the opening eight minutes to place Penn State Behrend in an early hole as the first-year fired in even-strength strikes at 6:44, 5:20, 4:51 and 3:05 to push the Vikings out to a 4-0 lead.
Jillian Hagmann (Fr., San Jose, Calif./Santa Teresa) built upon Fricker’s scoring foundation by putting away man-up (7:05) and even-strength (4:44) scores to start the second quarter prior to Ocean Akau (Fr., Pana’ewa, Hawaii/Kamehameha) following with a natural marker at 1:21 to make it 7-0 in favor of the first-year Vikings.
Shannon Young (Jr., Roseville, Calif./Roseville) put the Lions on the board prior to halftime by roaring for a man-up tally with 53 seconds left on the clock to move Penn State Behrend to within 7-1 entering intermission.
Augustana quickly went back on the attack in the third quarter as Akau (7:46), Fricker (7:23, 5:48, 3:48), Annie Opal Dickson (Fr., Imperial Beach, Calif./Mar Vista) (6:14) and Sophie Arceneaux (Fr., Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) (2:06) contributed six consecutive natural goals prior to Arceneaux converting a man-up bid with 33 seconds left to cap off a 7-0 surge by the Vikings.
Leading 14-1 after 24 minutes of competition, Augustana continued to dent the cage’s rear netting as Lauren Dickinson (Fr., La Habra, Calif./Troy) and Jasmin Aponte (Fr., Houston, Texas/Cypress Creek) delivered even-strength (7:02) and penalty shot (6:22) strikes to widen the Vikings’ lead to 16-1.
Both teams delivered final coffin nails in the closing minutes of the game as Brooklynn Mocny (So., Sunnyvale, Calif./Homestead) put away a point for Penn State Behrend at 4:12 prior to Hagmann completing a hat-trick 16 seconds later at 3:56 to establish the 17-2 final score.
For Augustana – which advances to a 2:00 p.m. semifinal showdown on Friday, April 22, with the victor of a meeting between Washington & Jefferson College and Wittenberg University – Fricker (seven), Hagmann (three), Akau (two) and Arceneaux (two) posted multi-goal games and combined for 14 of the Vikings 17 markers. Dickinson, Aponte and Dickson each deposited solo scores.
Across the tank, Young and Mocny accounted for the Lions’ offensive damage as the team will next be in action at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, April 22, against Connecticut College. Penn State Behrend is 2-0 against their fellow CWPA Division III-East member Camels in 2022 as the Lions claimed 16-6 (March 20 at Washington & Jefferson, Washington, Pa.) and 18-8 (April 9 at Connecticut, New London, Conn.) wins during the regular season. The loser of the Connecticut-Penn State Behrend game plays for Ninth Place on April 22 at 6:00 p.m., while the winner competes for a shot at an appearance in the championship’s Fifth Place game.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Penn State Behrend (7-16, 5-3 CWPA Division III-East) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | 2 |
| Augustana College (8-11, 6-2 CWPA Division III-West | 4 | 3 | 7 | 3 | – | 17 |
| Augustana Goals: | Alyssa Fricker (7); Jillian Hagmann (3); Ocean Akau (2); Sophie Arceneaux (2); Lauren Dickinson; Jasmin Aponte; Annie Opal Dickson | |||||
| Penn State Behrend Goals: | Shannon Young; Brooklynn Mocny | |||||
| Saves: | Augustana – Unknown ; Penn State Behrend – Unknown | |||||
| Exclusions: | Augustana – 7; Penn State Behrend – 6 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Augustana – 3-for-6 ; Penn State Behrend – 1-for-7 | |||||
| Sprints: | Augustana – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th); Penn State Behrend – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – Penn State Behrend (Head coach Joe Tristan, 6:14 left in 3rd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Michael Francis; Greg Sanchez | |||||
Penn State Behrend’s Samantha Darrell (#2) attempts to pass as Augustana College’s Annie Opal Dickson (#9) defends
Augustana College’s Annie Opal Dickson (#9) surveys the landscape as Penn State Behrend’s Shannon Young (#7) closes
Penn State Behrend’s Shannon Young (#7) goes for a steal against Augustana College’s Abbey Ellis (#7)
