2017 Collegiate Water Polo Association Championship Schedule & Results
No. 15 Hartwick College-vs.-No. 25 Brown University Scoresheet
No. 15 Hartwick College-vs.-No. 25 Brown University FOSH Boxscore
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Zsofia Polak (Jr., Dunaujvaros, Hungary/Rudas) scored five goals to claim Player of the Game accolades as No. 15-ranked Hartwick College built a 7-3 lead by halftime in coasting to an 11-6 defeat of No. 25 Brown University in the opening round of the 2017 CWPA Championship at Indiana University’s Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.
The win places the Hawks (23-9, 7-2 CWPA) into a 3:00 p.m. semifinal matchup on Saturday, April 29, against No. 9 Princeton University, which defeated Bucknell University by a 16-7 score in the game immediately prior to the Hawks-Bears clash. It will mark the second meeting of the year between the two programs as the Tigers picked up a 13-12 victory on April 9 at Hartwick’s Moyer Pool.
Hartwick never trailed against Brown as the Hawks jumped on the scoreboard first when Charlotte Cottle (Jr., Blakehurst, Australia/Presbyterian Ladies College) broke the ice with a man-up strike at the 7:18 mark of the first quarter. Brown pulled even 15 seconds later as Jessica Heilman (Jr., Menlo Park, Calif./Menlo Atherton) finished a feed from Carmen Rosas (So., Schaumburg, Ill./James B. Conant) at 7:03, but consecutive unassisted six-on-five conversions by Polak at the 2:29 and 24 seconds marks pushed Hartwick back into the lead at 3-1 by the conclusion of the opening quarter of play.
Nikolina Mihaljovik (Jr., Mississauga, Ontario/Silverthorn Collegiate Institute) built the lead to 4-1 off an assist from Katie McKenty (Jr., Auckland, New Zealand/Takapuna Grammar School) 29 seconds into the second quarter (7:31) prior to Lexi Atwell (Fr., La Jolla, Calif./La Jolla) responding at 7:11 to shrink the lead down to 4-2.
Hartwick continued to pull away, however, as Polak and Lena Kotanchyan (Fr., Moscow, Russia/Elk Island School #368) put in natural goals at 2:48 and 2:11, respectively, to inflate the margin to 6-2. Marisa Kolokotronis (Sr., Sacramento, Calif./St. Francis) answered for the Bears at 1:55 off a pass from Allison Woo (So., Arcadia, Calif./Polytechnic School) prior to Polak punching in a pass on a man-up chance from McKenty with 30 seconds left in the first half to make it 7-3 at the break.
The Bears continued to chip away at their deficit to begin the third quarter as Shannon Crowley (Sr., Seal Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos) and Woo whipped in back-to-back six-on-five opportunities with 6:51 and 4:48, respectively, on the clock to inch Brown within 7-5.
However, the comeback was short-lived as Polak lined in a five-meter penalty shot (3:28) and Kotanchyan cashed in on a pass from Tori Wilson (Fr., Kitchener, Ontario/Grand River Collegiate Institute) with the Hawks’ holding a six-on-five advantage in the water (1:04) to rebuild the gap to four at 9-5.
Brown attempted one final push to pull even as Hannah Eliot (Fr., Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) found Kolokotronis for an even-strength goal with three seconds left in the third quarter to inch back within three at 9-6.
Kotanchyan and L.J. Edwards (So., Encinitas, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) put to rest any doubts of the contest’s outcome in the fourth quarter as Kotanchyan tossed in a power-play chance off a feed from Wilson at 7:22 and Edwards fired home a frozen-rope with 48 ticks on the clock for the 11-6 final score.
For Hartwick, Kotanchyan joined Polak in posting hat-tricks, while Mihaljovik, Cottle and Edwards each dented the netting once. Josette Santos (Jr., Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) earned the victory in cage with 12 saves.
Brown, which will face Bucknell at Noon on Saturday, April 29, with a spot in the Fifth Place game on the line, received a pair of goals from Kolokotronis and single strikes by Heilman, Crowley, Atwell and Woo. Marisol Dakan (Jr., Pasadena, Calif./La Salle) suffered the loss with 11 saves.
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | — | Final |
| Brown University (19-9, 3-6 CWPA) |
1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 6 |
| Hartwick College (23-9, 7-2 CWPA) | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | — | 11 |
Hartwick Goals: Zsofia Polak (5); Lena Kotanchyan (3); Nikolina Mihaljovik; Charlotte Cottle; LJ Edwards
Brown Goals: Marisa Kolokotronis (2); Jessica Heilman; Shannon Crowley; Lexi Atwell; Allison Woo
Saves: Hartwick – Josette Santos (12) ; Brown – Marisol Dakan (11)
Exclusions: Hartwick – 7 ; Brown – 10
Advantage Opportunities: Hartwick – 7-for-10 ; Brown – 2-for-7
Sprints: Hartwick – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 4th) ; Brown – 1-for-4 (3rd)
Cards: YC – Brown (Head coach Felix Mercado, 3:29 left in 3rd Quarter)
Officials: Val Vasilchikov, Michael Goldenberg
Brown University’s Maigrie McDougal prepares to shoot as Hartwick College’s Lauren Brennan defends
Brown University’s Allison Woo looks for an opening as Hartwick College’s Lauren Brennan closes in
