NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) womens' water polo team was defeated by host Connecticut College, 19-3, in the lower bracket of the Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Championship at Lott Natatorium in New London, Conn.
The Lyons fall to 0-12 on the season, while the Camels improve to 8-7. Wheaton will take on Pennsylvania State University Behrend at 4:00 p.m. with the winner of that match earning another contest in the tournament's seventh-place match. Connecticut College will now play Grove City College at 5:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to the fifth-place match.
Junior utility player Allie Taylor (Raleigh, N.C.), junior center Izabella Agraz (Moraga, Calif.) and sophomore center Issabel Babikova (South Portland, Maine) each netted a goal for the Lyons.
Senior driver Kendall Foley (Sammamish, Wash.), sophomore Gigi Sandull (Kenilworth, N.J.) and sophomore Ainsley Cornwall (San Mateo, Calif.) led the Camels with three goals apiece. First year driver Jada Keen (Kailua-Kona, Hawaii), sophomore driver Emma Luna (Wahiawa, Hawaii) and senior driver Gicel Zuniga (Norwalk, Conn.) contributed with two goals each.
Connecticut College scored all seven goals of the opening quarter, including three from Sandull and two from Luna, to take a 7-0 lead after one quarter of play.
Zuniga and Keen each found the back of the net for the first two markers of the second quarter to give the Camels a 9-0 advantage with 4:54 left in the period.
Taylor put Wheaton on the board just 17 seconds later to cut the deficit to 9-1 with 4:37 showing in the quarter.
Connecticut College closed out the half with four straight goals, including a marker from Keen with seven ticks left in the period, to take a 13-1 cushion into the intermission.
Babikova found the back of the net for the first goal of the third quarter to pull the Lyons within 13-2 just 47 seconds into the third quarter. The Camels scored the next three goals, including a marker by Foley with 1:38 remaining in the quarter to bump their advantage to 16-2.
Wheaton scored the first goal of the new quarter again when Agraz' shot found twine to make it 16-3 with 5:25 left in the final period of play. Connecticut College netted the final three goals of the game with Zuniga scoring the final tally with exactly a minute to play in the contest.
