ERIE, Pa. — The Carthage College women's water polo team downed Wheaton College (Mass.) with a 7-1 run that led to a 10-5 victory this afternoon in a Collegiate Water Polo Association match hosted by Pennsylvania State University Behrend at the Junker Center in Erie, Pa.
The Lyons complete their inaugural regular season with an 0-10 record, including 0-8 in league play, while the Firebirds improve to 4-12 and 3-6.
The teams traded goals in the opening two minutes of play and Wheaton pulled within 3-2 with 4:12 left in the first quarter, before Carthage went on a game-deciding 7-1 stretch to take a 10-3 advantage. The Lyons tallied the final two goals of the day in the fourth quarter.
First year attacker Ava Biancheri (Westborough, Mass.) led Wheaton's offense with a school-record four goals to lead all scorers, while first year center Sophia Romo (Jupiter, Fla.) scored a goal as well.
Senior center Kylie Hemming (Huntington Beach, Calif.), sophomore defender Brenna Carstens (Coronado, Calif.) and sophomore Faith Harris (Gurnee, Ill.) each netted a pair of goals for the Firebirds, while senior goalie Taylor Woitesek made eight saves.
Hemming opened the game's scoring at the 6:15 mark of the opening quarter for Carthage, before Biancheri matched her just 10 seconds later to pull the Lyons even at 1-1.
The Firebirds scored the next two markers, including a score from senior utility player Alyssa Sayatovic (Berwyn, Ill.) to give Carthage a 3-1 margin.
Biancheri made it a one-goal game with her second marker of the contest for Wheaton coming with 4:12 remaining in the opening period.
The Firebirds tallied the final three goals of the quarter, capped by a score from Carstens to give Carthage a 6-2 advantage after one quarter of play.
Biancheri opened the second quarter scoring for the Lyons to cut the deficit to 6-3 with 5:50 showing on the second quarter clock. The Firebirds held Wheaton scoreless for the next 16:20, while putting four more goals on the board to take a 10-3 lead. Woitesek's marker with 1:52 to play in the third quarter was the only goal of the period and the last of the game for Carthage.
Biancheri netted her fourth straight goal for the Lyons with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter, before Romo pulled Wheaton within 10-5 with a score coming with 90 ticks left in the contest.
