ST. PAUL, Minn. — Reese Trauger (Sr., Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) scored four goals to garner Player of the Game honors as Grove City College survived a physical back-and-forth contest to take a 13-11 victory over Carthage College in the Seventh Place game of the 2023 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship.
Competing at Macalester College’s Riley Pool in the Leonard Center, the Wolverines (5-16, 4-4 CWPA Division III-East) fell behind 3-0 with 7:06 left in the second quarter, but rallied back to outscore the Firebirds (5-17, 1-7 CWPA Division III-West) 4-2 over the remainder of the second quarter and 4-1 in the third quarter prior to Carthage holding a 6-4 scoreboard advantage in the final eight minutes to shrink the concluding difference down to a pair.
Carthage – which previously collected Second (2010), Third (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), Fourth (2013, 2019, 2021), Fifth (2011, 2012) and Seventh (2022) Place marks at the CWPA Division III Championship – jumped on the scoreboard first as Morrigan Bushroe-Stumpf (Fr., Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) (6:57) and Kaitlynn LaGrone (Sr., Chicago, Ill./Homewood Flossmoor) (1:12) staked the Firebirds to a 2-0 lead prior to the conclusion of the opening quarter. Kylie Hemming (Jr., Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach) inflated the margin to 3-0 54 seconds into the second quarter (7:06) as the Carthage appeared primed to run away with the contest.
However, the Wolverines awoke from their scoring slumber and bared their claws to turn the tables.
Kiley Sill (Fr., Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) broke-up the Firebirds’ shutout try at 5:32, Kamryn Kerr (So., East Grand Rapid, Mich./East Grand Rapids) swished a man-up chance at 4:47, Riley McCullough (So., Spring, Texas/Oak Ridge) netted the equalizer at 1:56 and Kerr converted on another six-on-five bid with 1:23 until halftime to push Grove City ahead 4-3.
Alyssa Sayatovic (Jr., Berwyn, Ill./Fenwick) snapped the Wolverines’ four goal rampage and balanced the scoreboard by putting away a man-up opportunity for Carthage, but Sill sliced in a shot with 15 ticks on the clock to place Grove City in front to stay at 5-4 heading into halftime.
Trauger took command of the contest in the second half and wasted little time in demonstrating her dominance.
The Grove City senior – playing in her final intercollegiate varsity contest – insulated the Wolverines’ lead to 6-4 at the 6:58 mark of the third quarter. Sayatovic heaved in a response at 5:57, but Claire Lochstet (Jr., Ambler, Pa./Upper Dublin) (5:30), Tia Kannel (Sr., York, Pa./Central York) (4:03) and Trauger (1:01, man-up) shook it off and tacked on back-to-back-to-back strikes to enlarge the margin to 9-5 heading into the fourth quarter.
Kaylin Machuca (Fr., Corona, Calif./Santiago) terminated Grove City’s scoring run 64 seconds (6:54) into the fourth quarter by arching in a shot to shrink Cathage’s deficit to 9-6.
However, Trauger torched the Firebirds’ twine with even-strength (6:43) and penalty shot (6:12) scores to push the lead to 11-6 before Kannel canned another tally at 5:45 to double-up Carthage at 12-6.
The goal reignited the Firebirds’ offense as Bushroe-Stumpf (4:39, 3:54) deposited a pair and Machuca (3:08) lined in a shot to close Carthage within 12-9 with approximately three minutes to play.
Needing a goal to extinguish their foe’s momentum, Grove City turned to their hometown athlete in the person of Emory Shepson (Sr., Grove City, Pa./Homeschooled) who wailed in the back-breaker at the 2:55 mark to rebuild the Wolverines’ lead to four at 13-9.
Facing a stiffened Grove City defense with the clock ticking away, Carthage attempted to pose another rally as Bushroe-Stumpf (1:10) and Grace Steinberg (Fr, Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) (45 seconds) tossed in tallies to move the Firebirds within a pair at 13-11. The clock, however, ran out on Carthage’s rally as Grove City escaped the Twin Cities with a two-goal win.
For Carthage, Bushroe-Stumpf (four), Machuca (two) and Sayatovic (two) notched multi-marker games. Steinberg, LaGrone and Hemming chipped in single strikes. Goalkeeper Emma Selman (Fr., Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) stopped 12 shots in cage.
Trauger (four), Kannel (two), Kerr (two) and Sill (two) inflicted the majority of the damage for Grove City as the quartet combined for 10 goals. Shepson, McCullough and Lochstet tacked on solo scores in support of a two save effort by netminder Lea Steen (Fr., Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg).
The Seventh Place finish is a first for the Wolverines at the CWPA Division III Championship as the squad previously placed First (2010, 2011, 2012), Second (2013), Third (2021), Fourth (2015), Fifth (2014, 2016, 2019, 2022) and Sixth (2017, 2018).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Carthage College |
2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | – | 11 |
| Grove City College | 0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | – | 13 |
| Grove City Goals: | Reese Trauger (4); Tia Kannel (2); Kamryn Kerr (2); Kiley Sill (2); Emory Shepson; Riley McCullough; Claire Lochstet | |||||
| Carthage Goals: | Morrigan Bushroe-Stumpf (4); Kaylin Machuca (2); Alyssa Sayatovic (2); Grace Steinberg; Kaitlynn LaGrone; Kylie Hemming | |||||
| Saves: | Grove City – Lea Steen (2) ; Carthage – Emma Selman (12) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Grove City – 6 ; Carthage – 18 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Grove City – 4-for-18 ; Carthage – 1-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | Grove City – 1-for-4 (2nd) ; Carthage – 3-for-4 (1st, 3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Grove City – None ; Carthage – None | |||||
| Officials: | Aleks Mitrevski; Alex Stankevitch | |||||
Grove City College’s Kamryn Kerr (#2) defends Carthage College’s Morrigan Bushroe-Stumpf (#11)
Carthage College’s Ella Selman (#1)
Carthage College’s Morrigan Bushroe-Stumpf (#11) attempts to collect a steal from Grove City College’s Riley McCullough (#5)
