NEW LONDON, Conn. — Division III No. 9-ranked Washington & Jefferson College built a 5-0 lead by the conclusion of the first quarter and never looked back in rolling to a 12-3 victory over Monmouth College in the final game of the 24-game Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III tournament hosted by Connecticut College at the Jane Cadwell Lott Natatorium.
Led by five goals from both Madison Nervig (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) and Liz Klock (Jr., New Lennox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central), the Presidents outscored the Fighting Scots 5-0, 2-2, 3-0 and 2-1 over the span of the game’s four quarters to pull away for a nine-score win. Macel Reising (Jr., Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) and Brittney Patterson (Sr., North Wales, Pa./North Penn) contributed W&J’s two other goals in the win.
Washington & Jefferson took the lead for good with 4:49 remaining in the first quarter as Nervig found the back of the cage for the opening salvo. Klock (3:19, 23 seconds), Nervig (1:55) and Reising (1:24) inflicted the remainder of the damage in the opening frame as the Presidents grabbed a 5-0 lead.
Klock completed a hat-trick exactly two minutes into the second quarter by pushing her third goal of the contest into the cage with 6:00 until halftime. Monmouth got on the scoreboard as Becca Dabrowski (So., McHenry, Ill./West) roped in even-strenth and five-meter penalty shot markers with 5:22 and 2:40 remaining on the clock, respectively, but Nervig completed her own hat-trick with 34 ticks to go for a 7-2 W&J lead at the break.
Following a score by Patterson at the 6:17 mark of the third quarter to increase the spread to 8-2, Klock concluded her scoring by hitting on back-to-back natural chances with 4:32 and 3:30 to go for a 10-2 margin after 24 minutes of competition.
Melissa Barrios (Jr., Oak Forest, Ill./Tinley Park) attempted to reinvigorate the Scots’ offense by putting away an opportunity 35 seconds into the fourth quarter (7:25), but Nervig wrapped up her day with strikes at 7:10 and 5:01 for the 12-3 final score.
Dabrowki led the way for Monmouth with a pair of goals, while Barrios posted a solo score.
