ST. PAUL, Minn. — The quintet of Mekkiye Ergun (So., Chicago, Ill./Lake View), Megan DePrez (Sr., Claremont, Calif./Claremont), Anastacia Didovich (So., Venice, Fla./Venice), Ryley McClellan (Sr., Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) and Sydney Neumann (So., Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) each scored twice to share Player of the Game recognition as Washington & Jefferson College upended Utica University, 12-3, in a consolation game at the 2023 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship at Macalester College’s Riley Pool.
The win marks the third of the year for W&J against Utica as the Presidents garnered 11-3 (March 18 at Penn State Behrend) and 16-6 (April 2 at Utica) victories during the regular season.
W&J (10-9, 7-1 CWPA Division III-East) – which previously finished Second (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), Third (2013), Fourth (2010, 2018), Sixth (2022) and 10th (2019) at prior CWPA Division III Championship – will next be in action at 4:40 p.m, later in the day versus Carthage College. A victory puts the Presidents in the Fifth Place game, while a loss drops the squad into the Seventh Place game.
Utica (0-12, 0-8 CWPA Division III-East) – which holds prior Sixth (2014, 2015), Seventh (2012, 2013), Eighth (2011, 2016, 2017, 2018), Ninth (2010, 2019) and 10th (2022) Place finishes at the CWPA Division III Championship – will play its final game in 2023 at 6:00 p.m. as the Pioneers take on the Lions of Penn State Behrend in the Ninth Place game.
Washington & Jefferson never trailed versus Utica as Ergun staked the Presidents to a 1-0 lead in the first quarter by putting away a shot with 20 seconds left. A penalty shot by Neumann four minutes into the second quarter built the margin to 2-0 before Aimee Oswald (Fr., Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) put the Pioneers on the scoreboard at the 3:47 mark to cut the Presidents lead in half at 2-1.
However, Kate McKiernan (Sr., Columbus, N.J./Pennington) (3:30) and Neumann (1:29, penalty shot) expanded W&J’s lead to 4-1 by halftime.
McClellan (7;24, man-up) and Anastacia Didovich (So., Venice, Fla./Venice) (6:54) widened the gap to 6-1 66 seconds into the third quarter prior to Amelia Laible (Fr., Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) stroking in Utica’s second strike at 3:51 to move the Pioneers within 6-2.
W&J dominated the remainder of the frame as DePrez (3:33; 29 seconds), McClellan (3:15, man-up) and Laura Anthony (So., Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) (1:14, man-up) accounted for a 4-0 outburst in the final 3:33 of the third quarter to acquire a 10-2 lead with eight minutes remaining in regulation.
The Presidents outscored the Pioneers 2-1 in the fourth quarter as Didovich (7:23) and Ergun (2:53) provided bookends to a tally by Bailey Simmons (Jr., Vernon Center, N.Y./Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) (4:48) for the 12-3 final score.
Simmons, Oswald and Laible combined for Utica’s offense in support of an eight save effort by goalkeeper Kim Serio (Jr., Lakeville, N.Y./Livonia), while McKiernan and Anthony accounted for solo markers to accompany pairs by Ergun, DePrez, Didovich, McClellan and Neumann for W&J.
Sky Wald (Fr., Granada Hills, Calif./John F. Kennedy) stopped five shots to earn the win for the Presidents.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Utica University |
0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 3 |
| Washington & Jefferson College | 1 | 3 | 6 | 2 | – | 12 |
| W&J Goals: | Mekkiye Ergun (2); Megan DePrez (2); Anastacia Didovich (2); Ryley McClellan (2); Sydney Neumann (2); Kate McKiernan; Laura Anthony | |||||
| Utica Goals: | Bailey Simmons; Aimee Oswald; Amelia Laible | |||||
| Saves: | W&J – Sky Wald (5) ; Utica – Kim Serio (8) | |||||
| Exclusions: | W&J – 0 ; Utica – 8 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | W&J – 5-for-8 ; Utica – 0-for-0 | |||||
| Sprints: | W&J – 1-for-4 (4th) ; Utica – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | W&J – None ; Utica – None | |||||
| Officials: | Tiffany Urbanski; Victor Rarau | |||||
Washington & Jefferson College’s Megan DePrez (#8) lobs a pass as Utica University’s Bailey Simmons (#16) defends
Utica University’s Bailey Simmons (#16) sets up the Pioneers’ offense as Washington & Jefferson College’s Megan DePrez (#8) defends
Anastacia Didovich (#10) attempts to stop a shot by Utica University’s Amelia Labile (#18)
