SHERMAN, Texas — The No. 10-ranked Austin College women’s water polo team completed an unbeaten home weekend at Hannah Natatorium by topping Division III No. 6 Macalester College, 11-8, Division III No. 5 Augustana College, 14-13.
The Kangaroos improve to 7-7 overall and 4-0 in conference play with the victories to stand in a tie with Washington & Jefferson College to share first place in the CWPA Division III standings.
In the opening game of the day against Macalester, the ‘Roos jumped out to a 3-2 lead in the first quarter with two tallies from Ashley Chand and Bianca Gallegos.
After the Scots evened things up early in the second quarter, Austin closed the half in dominating fashion by scoring six unanswered to head into halftime leading 9-3. Camila Diarte found the back of the cage twice, while Chand, Gallegos, McKenna Malone and Joslyn Dimitri each scored once.
Macalester started to chip away at the ‘Roos lead in the third quarter by limiting Austin to one goal in the quarter while denting the twine twice to cut it to 10-5.
An early goal in the fourth quarter made it a 10-6 contest, but Malone pushed the margin to 11-6 with just over six minutes left to play.
The Scots trimmed their deficit to 11-8 with 1:39 left before the ‘Roos clamped down defensively and did not allow Macalester any closer to secure the victory. Chand had a game-best three goals, while Gallegos, Malone and Diarte each scored twice.
The ‘Roos closed out the weekend with a thriller over defending CWPA Division III Champion Augustana.
Austin scored first on a tally by Clara Koenig just seconds into the game but the Vikings closed the first with four unanswered to head into the second frame leading 4-1.
The ‘Roos quickly battled back, scoring four straight to open the second quarter to snag a 5-4 lead, with Chand getting things started with a pair of goals and Morgan Evans scoring to even things up. Diarte put the ‘Roos ahead and after Augustana leveled things with just under three minutes left in the half, Malone put one in the cage to make it a 6-5 game. Gallegos scored as the clock expired to send the ‘Roos into the break leading 7-5.
Gallegos and Koenig tallied to start the third quarter, making it a 9-5 game, and after a goal by the Vikings, Gallegos scored again to push it to a 10-6 lead. However, the Vikings closed the quarter with three straight to trim the margin to 10-9 heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Dimitri pushed the lead back to a pair at 11-9 early in the fourth quarter, but Augustana notched two strikes to level things midway through the quarter. Sophia King put Austin back on top a few seconds later, but once again, the Vikings managed to dent the twine for a 12-all game with just over three minutes left.
King found the back of the cage again to put the ‘Roos ahead again, and Koenig gave Austin a 14-12 cushion with 1:30 left. The Vikings cut it to 14-13 with a minute left and had a chance to force overtime, but a last second effort went over the bar to preserve the win for the ‘Roos.
Koenig and Gallegos each scored three times to lead Austin, while King and Chand each scored twice. Dimitri, Evans, Diarte and Malone all tallied once in the victory.
Information courtesy Austin College Athletics Communications
