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No. 10 Washington & Jefferson College Tops Utica College, 12-5, in Opening Round of CWPA Division III Championship
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Sarah Cull (Sr., Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) and Kelsey Leis (So., Flourtown, Pa./Springfield) both found the back of the cage four times to lead five scoring Presidents as No. 10 Washington & Jefferson College rolled to a 12-5 victory over Utica College in the opening round of the 2012 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Eastern Championship at Grove City College.
W&J (10-4, 9-2 CWPA Division III) never trailed in the game as the Presidents opened up a 3-0 lead in the first period thanks to natural strikes by Sara Boldt (Fr., Kentwood, Mich./East Kentwood) at 5:54 and 2:27, along with a tally by Leis at 4:10, to take the lead for good.
Utica answered to begin the second period when Jennifer Persio (Jr., Cheshire, Conn./Tilton) connected on a shot at 7:37, but the Presidents answered 31 seconds later with another goal by Leis (7:06) to return the spread to three at 4-1. However, the Pioneers engineered a comeback try as Persio put home her second marker in the morning and game to close the gap to 4-2 at the 6:50 mark. Again, Washington & Jefferson had the answer as Catherine Villa (So., Poway, Calif./Poway) whistled a line-drive into the mesh at 4:31 and Cull curled a five-meter penalty shot past Utica goalie Ali Templin (Fr., Sinking Springs, Pa./Wilson) at 4:08 for the eventual game-winner to make it a 6-2 game.
The teams traded scoring blows prior to the halftime horn as Evelyn Kurzac (So., Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) and Cull exchanged goals at 3:48 and 50 seconds, respectively, to set the scoreboard at 7-3 through two periods of play.
Cull's second marker of the day started a run by the Presidents as Leis (7:15) finished on a man-up opportunity at 7:15 and Cull cashed in on a wide-open shot at 6:57 to add some insurance for a 9-3 lead.
Sarah Parker (Jr., Dover, N.H./Dover), Margot Wummer (So., Havertown, Pa./Germantown Academy) and Rebecca Morgan (So., Utica, N.Y./Notre Dame) closed the period with scores at 6:36, 4:47 and 4:06, respectively, as the Pioneers chipped their deficit down to 10-5.
However, Utica would pull no closer over the final eight minutes of play as Cull (7:28) converted on a man-up chance and Leis lobbed in a ball at 4:21 for the 12-5 final score.
The victory advances W&J to a 4:30 p.m. meeting with the victor of a first round game between Wheaton College and Carthage College, while Utica will meet the vanquished from the Thunder-Lady Reds game at 3:15 p.m. in the consolation round.
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | -- | Final |
| Utica College | 0 | 3 |
2 |
0 |
-- | 5 |
| No. 10 Washington & Jefferson College | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
-- | 12 |
W&J Goals: Kelsey Leis (4); Sarah Cull (4);
Sara Boldt (2); Catherine Villa; Margot Wummer
Utica Goals: Jennifer Persio (2); Evelyn Kurzac; Rebecca Morgan; Sarah Parker
Saves: W&J - McKenzie Graf (6) ; Utica - Ali Templin (12)
Exclusions: W&J - 2 ; Utica - 6
Advantage Opportunities: W&J - 3-for-6 ; Utica - 0-for-2
Cards: None
Officials: Bruce Morehouse, Russ
Thompson
Washington & Jefferson
College's Sara Boldt seeks to pass past Utica College's Sarah
Parker
