2017 Collegiate Water Polo Association Championship Schedule & Results
George Washington University-vs.-Saint Francis University Scoresheet
George Washington Unviersity-vs.-Saint Francis University FOSH Boxscore
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Emily Wickenheiser (Fr., Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) of Saint Francis University scored on man-up chances with 56 and no time left in the fourth quarter to earn Player of the Game notice as the Red Flash claimed their inaugural victory in Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) play by shocking George Washington University, 11-10, in the opening game of the 2017 CWPA Championship at Indiana University’s Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.
For Saint Francis (10-19, 1-8 CWPA) which went winless during the regular season in league play and fell to the Colonials (13-17, 1-8 CWPA) by a 10-7 count in Loretto, Pa., on February 17 in the first year program’s home-opener prior to dropping a 9-7 league contest on March 10 during the George Washington Invitational in Washington, D.C., the win saw the team rally from a 9-6 deficit at the conclusion of the third quarter thanks to some heroics by Wickenheiser.
Competing on National Superheroes Day, the Saint Francis freshman combined with classmates Kelly Fehr (Fr., Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) and Erin O’Neill (Fr., Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) to fuel a 5-1 run by the Red Flash over the final eight minutes of regulation to punch the first-year program’s ticket to a match-up against No. 7-ranked/CWPA regular season champion/defending CWPA Champion/top seed the University of Michigan at 6:00 p.m. this evening back at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center for a spot in the tournament semifinals. It will mark the second meeting of the year between the old and new guard of the league as the Wolverines captured a 21-4 victory on April 1 at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa. during regular season league play.
Down by three with the final eight minutes of regulation in the fourth quarter left to play, O’Neill pulled the Red Flash to within a pair by burying an unassisted man-up opportunity at the 6:35 mark to make it 9-7. Jacqueline Bywater (Jr., Riverside, Calif./Riverside Poly) built the Colonials’ lead back to three (10-7) at 5:46 by hitting the back of the cage with an unassisted shot, but back-to-back power-play conversions by Wickenheiser and Fehr at 5:21 and 4:27, respectively, to make it a 10-9 game.
Neither team would score again until Wickenheiser connected on another man-up strike with 56 ticks to knot the game at 10-all for the first time since the time when both teams were scoreless in the opening 40 seconds of the first quarter. She completed the comeback for her squad by unleashing another man-up shot which the officials counted with no time on the clock for the 11-10 final.
A key to the game was Saint Francis’ ability to draw and convert six-on-five bids as the Red Flash burned the Colonials on eight-of-15 opportunities with at least one extra-player in the water compared to George Washington’s two-for-eight performance on special teams.
The game appeared destined to be a lopsided affair in GW’s favor in the early going as Ally Jochim (Fr., Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach) ripped in an assist from Kira Bruno (Fr., La Jolla, Calif./La Jolla) with 7:18 on the first quarter clock to break the ice and stake the Colonials to a lead they would not relinquish until the final minute of the contest.
Scarlett Hallahan (Jr., San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) expanded the lead to a pair at 5:33 with a man-up goal prior to Fehr flushing an extra-man opportunity at 5:19 to move Saint Francis back within one at 2-1. However, Hallahan swished a feed from goalie Samantha Runyon (Fr., San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch) for a natural goal at 4:36 and Bywater bombed in a helper from Maddy Johnson (Jr., Yorba Linda, Calif./Rosary) at 3:16 with the Colonials’ holding a one-player advantage in the water to make it 4-1.
George Washington appeared to construct a margin which the Red Flash would be unable to crumble in the closing moments of the first quarter as Hallahan notched an unassisted score at 2:41 and fed Bywater for their team’s third six-on-five conversion of the first quarter at 1:04 to sandwich a six-on-six strike by Fehr from Amber Rogers (Fr., Souderton, Pa./Souderton) at 1:41 to set the scoreboard at 6-2 after eight minutes of play.
The second quarter was mostly silent as both teams struggled to tickle the twine until Allyson Bakos (Sr., Los Altos, Calif./Los Altos) deposited an assist from Maggie Ball (Jr., Saratoga, Calif./Saint Francis) with 2:38 until halftime for a natural goal and a 7-2 George Washington lead at the break.
Saint Francis began to show of a comeback in the third quarter as the Red Flash outscored the Colonials 4-2 during the stretch to move within 9-6 going into the climatic fourth quarter.
O’Neill rifled in a shot at 5:29 to make it 7-3, but Erin McGeoy (Jr., Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) put away the answer at 4:47 to once again place GW in front by five at 8-3.
However, back-to-back tallies by Fehr (man-up, 3:02) and Missy McCreary (Jr., Altadena, Calif./La Salle/Citrus College) (2:38, even-strength) closed the gap to 8-5 and put the first pressure on George Washington since Saint Francis trailed in the dawning moments of the first quarter.
The teams traded tallies in the final 2:20 of the third quarter as Johnson (2:20) and Baur (two seconds) connected on line-drives to establish the 9-6 lead on the way to Saint Francis’ dramatic comeback.
For the Red Flash, Wickenheiser and Fehr both posted hat-tricks, while O’Neill put away a pair. Baur, Nguyen and McCreary each chipped in single goals. Goalie Kate Wilke (Fr., Burbank, Calif./Burroughs) earned the victory with five saves.
Hallahan and Bywater led the way for George Washington with hat-tricks. McGeoy, Johnson, Bakos and Jochim each tacked on solo strikes with Runyon taking the loss with three saves.
The defeat drops GW into the consolation side of the bracket as the Colonials will square-off at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 29, with the fallen from an opening round match-up pitting No. 16 Indiana-vs.-No. 20 Harvard University. George Washington went winless this year against the duo in falling 16-11 to host Hoosiers on April 17 at Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y., and slipping against the Crimson in both non-conference (16-6 L, February 11 at Bucknell) and CWPA action (15-8 L on April 8 at Hartwick).
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | — | Final |
| Saint Francis University (11-19, 1-8 CWPA) |
2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | — | 11 |
| George Washington University (13-17, 1-8 CWPA) | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | 10 |
George Washington Goals: Scarlett Hallahan (3); Jacqueline Bywater (3); Erin McGeoy; Maddy Johnson; Allyson Bakos; Ally Jochim
Saint Francis Goals: Emily Wickenheiser (3); Kelly Fehr (3); Erin O’Neill (2); Aimee Baur; Kaitlyn Nguyen; Missy McCreary
Saves: George Washington – Samantha Runyon (3) ; Saint Francis – Kate Wilke (5)
Exclusions: GW – 15 ; Saint Francis – 8
Advantage Opportunities: George Washington – 2-for-8 ; Saint Francis – 8-for-15
Sprints: George Washington – 2-for-4 (2nd, 3rd) ; Saint Francis – 2-for-4 (1st, 4th)
Officials: Michael Goldenberg, JR Perez
George Washington University’s Maggie Ball defends Saint Francis University’s Lani Merrill
George Washington University’s Ally Jochim looks to shoot as Saint Francis University’s Erin O’Neill defends
