ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Grace Steinberg (Jr., Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) and Xiomara Trejo (Fr., Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) both scored four times to share Player of the Game recognition as Carthage College knocked off Grove City College, 12-8, to earn a spot in the 2025 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship Fifth Place game.
Competing at Augustana College’s Anne Greve Lund Natatorium, the Firebirds (6-20, 3-5 CWPA Division III) built a 3-0 lead in the first quarter and never trailed against the Wolverines (4-14, 2-6 CWPA Division III) to punch the programs’ ticket to the 10:30 a.m. Central Fifth Place game on Sunday, April 13, against either Penn State Behrend, Wheaton College or Connecticut College.
Grove City will return to the water at 4:00 p.m. later today against the fallen from a meeting between Penn State Behrend and Wheaton. A loss in the Wolverines’ next game will conclude Grove City’s 2025 season with a Ninth Place finish in the nine-team CWPA Division III Championship field, while a victory puts the squad in the Seventh Place game at 9:00 a.m. Central on Sunday, April 13.
The Firebirds got hot in the opening moments of the first quarter as Trejo (6:25) and Steinberg (4:05, man-up; 3:35) pumped in a trio of tallies to stake Carthage to a 3-0 margin. Kiley Sill (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) put Grove City on the scoreboard prior to the conclusion of the first eight minutes as she spun a ball into the twine with 1:31 on the clock to inch the Wolverines within 3-1.
Grove City pulled even by the midway point of the second quarter as Shastyn Tihansky (So., Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton) buried a five-meter penalty shot (6:16) and a natural score (4:04) to square the squads at three-all.
Mak Werner (Fr., Tinley Park, Ill./Tinley Park) (3:43) and Trejo (2:49) returned the lead to Carthage, however, prior to Sill (2:26) and Trejo (1:12, man-up) exchanging strikes to make it a 6-4 contest in favor of the Firebirds heading into halftime.
Werner (7:31, penalty shot), Steinberg (6:54, man-up) and Morrigan Bushroe (So., Evanston, Ill./Evanston) (6:18) commenced the third quarter with a trio of tallies to expand the margin to 9-4 before Riley McCullough (Sr., Spring, Texas/Oak Ridge) responded for Grove City at 3:41 to chip the Wolverines’ deficit down to 9-5.
Trejo (3:25) and Steinberg (2:04) closed out the third quarter with consecutive markers as Carthage held an 11-5 lead through 24 minutes of competition.
Aubrey Korzyniewski (Fr., Grayslake, Ill./Warren Township) capped off Carthage’s scoring by finding the rear of the cage at the 6:51 mark of the fourth quarter to widen the Firebirds’ lead to 12-5.
Grove City trimmed the final margin of victory down to four tallies prior to the concluding horn thanks to Frances Baksa (Fr., Longwood, Fla./Lake Mary) who swished shots with 4:29; 2:09 and 11 seconds (penalty shot) remaining in regulation to establish the 12-8 final score.
For Grove City, Baksa (three goals), Sill (two goals-one assist), Tihansky (two goals), McCullough (one goal), Sam Logue (Sr., Hollister, Calif./San Benito) (one assist), Kamryn Kerr (Sr., East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) (one assist) and Emma Strahorn (Fr, Harleysville, Pa./North Penn) (one assist) combined for the Wolverines’ offense in support of a five save effort by goalkeeper Lea Steein (Jr., Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg).
On the other end of the tank, Steinberg (four goals), Trejo (four goals), Werner (two goals-one assist), Bushroe (one goal), Korzyniewski (one goal), Yamila Areizaga (Jr., Chicago, Ill./Lincoln Park) (two assists), Kaylin Machuca (So., Corona, Calif./Santiago) (two assists), Brenna Carstens (Jr., Coronado, Cali./Coronado) (one assist) led the way with Rylee McGee (Sr., Schaumburg, Ill./Conant) racking up seven saves in earning the win.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Grove City College (4-14, 2-6 CWPA Division III) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | – | 8 |
| Carthage College (6-20, 3-5 CWPA Division III) | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | – | 12 |
| Carthage Goals: | Grace Steinberg (4); Xiomara Trejo (4); Mak Werner (2); Morrigan Bushroe; Aubrey Korzyniewski | |||||
| Grove City Goals: | Frances Baksa (3); Kiley Sill (2); Shastyn Tihansky (2); Riley McCullough | |||||
| Saves: | Carthage – Rylee McGee (7) ; Grove City – Lea Steen (5) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Carthage – 13 ; Grove City – 15 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Carthage – 5-for-15 ; Grove City – 2-for-13 | |||||
| Sprints: | Carthage – 2-for-4 (1st, 4th) ; Grove City – 2-for-4 (2nd, 3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Andy Mattson; Aleks Mitrevski | |||||
Grove City College’s Sam Logue (#11) lines up a shot as Carthage College’s Xiomara Trejo (#8) closes in
Carthage College’s Grace Steinberg (#2) & Grove City College’s Shastyn Tihansky (#17)
Grove City College’s Lea Steen (#1) attempts to stop a shot by Carthage College’s Grace Steinberg (#2)
