GROVE CITY, Pa. — Tia Kannel (Jr., York, Pa./Central York) made five saves and tallied the tying goal with 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter as host Grove City College stunned Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III-East Region regular season champion Washington & Jefferson College, 10-9, with two scores in the final 46 seconds to claim the 2022 CWPA Division III Championship Fifth Place game at the James E. Longnecker Competition Pool.
The CWPA Division III-East Region runner-up Wolverines (10-9, 6-2 CWPA Division III-East) – which previously placed first (2010, 2011, 2012), second (2013), third (2021), fourth (2015), fifth (2014, 2016, 2019) and sixth (2017, 2018) at the CWPA Division III Championship – improve to 3-1 against W&J in 2022 following a 14-12 loss on March 20 (at Washington & Jefferson) and prior victories on March 26 (11-10 W at Penn State Behrend) and April 9 (12-9 W at Connecticut College).
Tied at six-all by the conclusion of the third quarter, W&J (10-8, 7-1 CWPA Division III-East) went ahead 7-6 via a man-up strike by Sydney Neumann (Fr., Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) at the 5:47 mark of the fourth quarter. The Wolverines slashed back at 5:30 courtesy a natural marker by Elaine Miller (Sr., Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington), but Ryley McClellan (Jr., Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) and Neumann appeared to give the Presidents an insurmountable lead at 9-7 as the duo lined in shots at 4:38 and 3:02, respectively.
However, appearances can be deceiving as Miller connected on her second scoring liner of the final eight minutes at 2:02 and Kanel put a frozen rope into the cage with 46 seconds left to square the teams at nine-all and raise the possibility of overtime.
Kyra Johnson (Sr., Hamilton, Va./Woodgrove) – who netted two goals in Grove City’s first 18 games of the season – completed a storybook win by closing out the win by putting away a shot with 17 seconds remaining in regulation for the stunning 10-9 win.
The victory raises Grove City’s record to 10-9 as the team achieves its first winning season since an 11-8 campaign in 2019.
The game was close from the opening sprint to the final horn as Neumann put the Presidents ahead 1-0 with 5:53 left in the first quarter and Johnson answered at 5:23 before Megan DePrez (Jr., Claremont, Calif./Claremont) (4:45, man-up) and Marcella Gallardo-Russell (Fr., Santa Cruz, Calif./Santa Cruz) (2:02, even-strength) closed out the opening frame with back-to-back tallies to put Washington & Jefferson ahead 3-1.
Grove City erased its deficit in the first 4:11 of the second quarter as Sophia Melanson (Sr., Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) and Kamryn Kerr (Fr., East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) put away chances at 6:55 and 3:49, respectively, to deadlock the squads at three-all.
W&J regained the lead prior to intermission as Katie McKiernan (Jr., Columbus, N.J./Pennington) and McClellan responded in kind with strikes at 3:34 and 2:30, respectively, to push the Presidents ahead 5-2 by the midway point.
The Wolverines closed the gap to one at 5-4 by the 6:50 mark of the third quarter courtesy a successful heave by Kerr, but McClellan struck back at 3:23 to return a two-goal spread (6-4) to W&J.
The remainder of the third quarter belonged to Reese Trauger (Jr., Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) as the third-year torched the Presidents’ cage at 2:20 and 1:54 to balance the scoreboard and set the stage for the climatic fourth quarter.
Grove City – which scored once in the first quarter, twice in the second quarter, three times in the third quarter and a quartet in the fourth quarter – received pairs of goals from Miller, Trauger, Johnson and Kerr to go along with single scores by Melanson and Kannel.
Neumann and McClellan led the way for W&J with three goals, while DePrez, McKiernan and Gallardo-Russell each posted single tallies. Cecelia Weiss (Sr., Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) made nine saves as the Presidents conclude the season with their season winning record since a 17-5 mark in 2017.
Historically, W&J has now placed second (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), third (2013), fourth (2010, 2018), sixth (2022) and 10th (2019) at the CWPA Division III Championship as the team missed out on claiming the program’s 10th Top Five finish at the event.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Washington & Jefferson College (10-8, 7-1 CWPA Division III-East) |
3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | – | 9 |
| Grove City College (10-9, 6-2 CWPA Division III-East) |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | – | 10 |
| Grove City Goals: | Elaine Miller (2); Reese Trauger (2); Kyra Johnson (2); Kamryn Kerr (2); Sophia Melanson; Tia Kannel | |||||
| W&J Goals: | Sydney Neumann (3); Ryley McClellan (3); Megan DePrez; Kate McKiernan; Marcella Gallardo-Russell | |||||
| Saves: | Grove City – Tia Kannel (5) ; W&J – Cecelia Weiss (9) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Grove City – 4 ; W&J – 3 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Grove City – 0-for-3 ; W&J – 2-for-4 | |||||
| Sprints: | Grove City – 2-for-4 (1st, 4th) ; W&J – 2-for-4 (2nd, 3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – W&J (Head coach Nikola Malezanov, 5:22 left in 2nd Q); YC/RC – W&J (Head coach Nikola Malezanov, 17 seconds left in 4th Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Brandon Nicholson; Michael Francis | |||||
Washington & Jefferson College’s Ryley McClellan (#11) fires a shot over Grove City College’s Reese Trauger (#12)
Washington & Jefferson College’s Sydney Neumann (#15) looks for an opening against Grove City College’s Elaine Miller (#17)
Grove City College’s Reese Trauger (#12)
