ST. PAUL, Minn. — Kailey Cordova (Sr., Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) scored four times in the first half and Leah Green (Fr., Grandville, Mich./Grandville) made 18 saves in cage to share Player of the Game status as Wittenberg University clawed past Grove City College, 14-3, to reach the Fifth Place game of the 2023 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship hosted at Maclaester College’s Riley Pool.
Wittenberg (8-13, 1-7 CWPA Division III-West Region) will return to the water at 10:30 a.m. Central on Sunday, April 23, to face the victor of a consolation game pitting Washington & Jefferson College and Cathage College. Historically, the Tigers – who hold prior Second (2021), Third (2022) and Sixth (2019) Place finishes at the CWPA Division III Championship – will compete in their final game as the program is slated to be eliminated following the completion of the 2022-23 academic year.
Grove City (4-16, 4-4 CWPA Division III-East Region) will take on the loser of the Carhage-W&J contest at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 23, for Seventh Place. The Wolverines are guaranteed to claim the program’s first Seventh Place finish at the event as the team previously placed First (2010, 2011, 2012), Second (2013), Third (2021), Fourth (2015), Fifth (2014, 2016, 2019, 2022) and Sixth (2017, 2018) at the CWPA Division III Championship.
Wittenberg put the game out of reach in the first eight minutes as Cordova (7:16, 6:13, 1:13) posted a first quarter hat-trick with Elizabeth Schexnaider (Jr., Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood) (4:55) and Bianca Gallegos (Fr., Albuquerque, N.M./Manzano) (50 seconds) tacking on solo markers for a 5-0 margin.
Grove City jumped on the scoreboard 62 seconds into the second quarter as Reese Trauger (Sr., Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) lined in a five-meter penalty shot (6:58) prior to Kamryn Kerr (So., East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) stuffing in a natural strike at 5:17 to trim the Tigers’ lead to 5-2.
However, Wittenberg went on a 6-0 run that stretched late into the third quarter to put any doubts about the eventual outcome to rest in short order.
Shania Stone (Fr., Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) commenced the surge at 3:43 prior to Meghan Lythgoe (Sr., Mason, Ohio/Mason) (2:34) and Cordova (1:59) bringing the curtain down on the first half to stake Wittenberg to an 8-2 lead through 16 minutes.
Olivia Pena (So., Ontario, Calif/Bonita) (6:23), Grace McLaughlin (Jr., Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) (4:35) and Schexnaider (1:40, man-up) opened the third quarter and finished out the Tigers’ scoring spree as Wittenberg held an 11-2 margin with under two minutes to play in the frame.
Trauger terminated the Tigers’ scoring tear with 40 seconds remaining in the third quarter as she tossed in a five-meter penalty shot to close the gap to 11-3.
Similar to the first quarter, the fourth quarter belonged exclusively to Wittenberg as Lythgoe (5:37, 2:19) torqued in a pair prior to Gallegos putting a bow on the game by burying a shot with 1:10 remaining for the 14-3 final score.
For Grove City, Trauger tossed in a pair and Kerr connected on a single strike to account for the Wolverines’ offense. Lea Steen (Fr., Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) stopped eight shots in suffering the loss between the pipes.
Corodva (four), Lythgoe (three), Schexnaider (two) and Gallegos (two) all posted multi-goal games to account for 11 of Wittenberg’s scores. Pena, McLaughlin and Stone contributed single strikes.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Wittenberg University |
5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | – | 14 |
| Grove City College | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | 3 |
| Grove City Goals: | Reese Trauger (2); Kamryn Kerr | |||||
| Wittenberg Goals: | Kailey Cordova (4); Meghan Lythgoe (3); Elizabeth Schexnaider (2); Bianca Gallegos (2); Olivia Pena; Grace McLaughlin; Shania Stone | |||||
| Saves: | Grove City – Lea Steen (8) ; Wittenberg – Leah Green (18) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Grove City – 3 ; Wittenberg – 10 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Grove City – 2-for-10 ; Wittenberg – 1-for-3 | |||||
| Sprints: | Grove City – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 4th) ; Wittenberg – 1-for-4 (3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Grove City – None; Wittenberg – None | |||||
| Officials: | Alex Stankevitch; Victor Rarau | |||||
Wittenberg University’s Bianca Gallegos attempts to avoid Grove City College’s Claire Lochstet (#15)
Wittenberg University’s Savannah Cross (#3) looks for an opening as Grove City College’s Claire Lochstet (#15) defends
Wittenberg University’s Kailey Cordova (#18) tries for a steal versus Grove City College
