NORTON, Mass. — Cindy King (So., Bakersfield, Calif./Garces Memorial) scored three times – including a pair in the first quarter to help her squad push out to a 6-3 lead – as Division III No. 5-ranked Augustana College overwhelmed Penn State Behrend, 18-8, to close out the first day of competition at the 2026 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship hosted by Wheaton College.
The 2026 regular season champion and a three-time CWPA Division III Champion (2025, 2024, 2023), the Vikings (18-3, 8-0 CWPA Division III regular season) will continue their march towards another league crown on Saturday, April 11, as Augustana tangles with Carthage College in the tournament semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Eastern.
Penn State Behrend (5-16, 2-6 CWPA Division III regular season) – which downed the host Lyons of Wheaton via a 13-4 count in the first of five games on Day One of the championship event – drops into the consolation side of the bracket. The Lions will return to the water at 5:30 p.m. to clash with the winner of a consolation game pitting Austin College and Wheaton. The victor of the next PSB game will play for Fifth Place on Sunday, April 12, while the loser will take part in the Seventh Place game.
Augustana wasted no time in burying Penn State Behrend under the weight of an offensive burden as the Vikings outscored the Lions 6-3 and 4-1 in the first and second quarters, respectively, to acquire a 10-5 halftime lead. Following a 6-1 outburst in the third quarter to expand its lead to 16-6, Augustana kept pace with Penn State Behrend as the programs traded pairs of goals in the fourth quarter for the 18-8 final score.
For PSB, Karis Barth (Fr., Flower Mound, Texas/Marcus) and Susie Carrillo (Jr., Fresno, Calif./Clovis North Educational Center) both accounted for two strikes with Kaitlyn True (Fr., Denton, Texas/Guyer), Calla Williams (Jr., Longwood, Fla./Lyman), Makenzie Rickerd (Jr., Rockford, Mich./Rockford) and Darragh Martin (Sr., Green Lane, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) chipping in solo tallies. Monica Villasenor (Jr., San Gabriel, Calif./Pasadena) made eight saves in suffering the loss.
Besides Cindy King, Sofia Boccalatte (Fr., Calabasas, Calif./Agoura) and Anais Jones (So., Sunshine Coast, Quensland, Australia/Chancellor State College) slipped in pairs of markers as the trio accounted for seven strikes. Xiomara Trejo (So., Chicago, Ill./Fenwick), Waiahuli Akau (Jr., Pana’ewa, Hawaii/Kamehameha), Mary King (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif./Garces), Abigail Gatlin (Jr., Pearland, Texas/Glenda Dawson), Braelyn Hill (So., Chula Vista, Calif./San Diego Mesa), Jersey Merrick (Sr., Chicago, Ill./Chicago High School of Agricultural Sciences), Olivia Parry (Sr., Wilsonville, Ore./Wilsonville), Hailey Sherman (Jr., Jension, Mich./Jenison), Alana Rodgers (Jr., Salt Lake City, Utah/Kearns), Alayna Ickert (Jr., Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound) and Maya Biela (Fr., Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) each added single scores with goalkeeper Jillian Hemming (So., Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach) delivering an 11-save performance.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Penn State Behrend (5-16) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | – | 8 |
| Division III No. 5 Augustana College (18-3) | 6 | 4 | 6 | 2 | – | 18 |
| Augustana Goals: | Cindy King (3); Sofia Boccalatte (2); Anais Jones (2); Xiomara Trejo; Waiahuli Akau; Mary King; Abigail Gatlin; Braelyn Hill; Jersey Merrick; Anita Rodgers; Olivia Parry; Hailey Sherman; Alayna Ickert; Maya Biela | |||||
| Penn State Behrend Goals: | Karis Barth (2); Susie Carrillo (2); Kaitlyn True; Calla Williams; Makenzie Rickerd; Darragh Martin | |||||
| Saves: | Augustana – Jillian Hemming (11) ; Penn State Behrend – Monica Villasenor (8) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Augustana – 6 ; Penn State Behrend – 9 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Augustana – 3-for-9 ; Penn State Behrend – 2-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | Augustana – 1-for-4 (4th) ; Penn State Behrend – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Mark Veszi; Tiffany Ruiz-Urbanski | |||||
Augustana College’s Hailey Sherman (#10) & Penn State Behrend’s Darragh Martin (#20)
Augustana College’s Alayna Ickert (#8) & Penn State Behrend’s Lauren True (#8)
Augustana College’s Sofia Boccalatte (#6) tries to stop a pass from Penn State Behrend’s Kaitlyn True (#9)
