NEW LONDON, Conn. – The ninth-seeded Wheaton College (Mass.) women's water polo team was defeated, 14-4, by number eight seed Grove City College this afternoon in the opening round game of the Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Women's Championship Tournament hosted by Connecticut College at Lott Natatorium in New London, Conn.
The Lyons fall to 0-11 on the season and will play in the lower bracket of the tournament tomorrow at 11:30 a.m., while the Wolverines improve to 4-13 and advance to take on top-seeded Augustana College later today at 7:00 p.m.
Grove City's defense held Wheaton to lone goals in each of the first two quarters of play, while the offense scored eight times to take an 8-2 lead at the intermission. The Wolverines held the Lyons without a goal in the third quarter and headed into the final period of play with a 12-2 advantage for their largest lead of the game. Wheaton tallied the first two goals of the fourth quarter to pull within 12-4. Grove City netted the final two goals of the game.
Junior center Izabella Agraz (Moraga, Calif.) led the Lyons with a pair of goals, while sophomore utility player Josephine Basco (Painesville, Ohio) and junior utility player Allie Taylor (Raleigh, N.C.) each scored a goal. First year goalie Amelia Brown (Acton, Mass.) stopped six shots for Wheaton.
Sophomore driver Candace Scalise (Clarence, N.Y.) and junior driver Kamryn Kerr (East Grand Rapids, Mich.) each tallied three goals to lead the Wolverines. Junior driver Riley McCullough (Spring, Texas) and first year utility player Shastyn Tihansky (Hazleton, Pa.) both contributed with a pair of markers apiece.
Tihansky scored the first two goals of the game within the first 3:20 of the opening quarter to give Grove City a 2-0 margin. Basco cut the deficit in half for the Lyons when she found the back of the net just 15 seconds later at the 4:25 mark of the period. Scalise and junior center Mikayla Zablocki (Kittanning, Pa.) scored back-to-back goals to close out the quarter for the Wolverines to give them a 4-1 margin after one quarter of play.
Scalise and Agraz traded goals in a span of 20 seconds to keep it a three-goal margin at 5-2 with 4:02 remaining in the second quarter.
Grove City tallied the final three goals of the period, including a score from McCullough with 57 ticks left on the clock, to increase its advantage to 8-2 at halftime.
The Wolverines netted all four goals of the third period to inflate their cushion to 12-2 with four different players finding twine for Grove City.
Taylor scored just 19 seconds into the fourth quarter for Wheaton, before Agraz gave the Lyons consecutive markers to cut the margin to 12-4 at the 5:25 mark of the quarter.
Sophomore utility player Kiley Sill (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Kerr each scored a goal to finish the match and secure the win for the Wolverines.
