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Carthage Handles Penn State Behrend 14-2 in CWPA Division III Tournament Opening Round
UTICA, N.Y. -- Patti Blatter (Sr., Prospect Heights, Ill./Wheeling) buried five shots to earn Player of the Game honors as Carthage College opened up a 7-0 halftime lead to roll past Penn State Behrend College 14-2 in the opening round of the 2010 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship at Utica College.
The Lady Reds never trailed in the game and used explosive scoring bursts in the first half to build a lead which the Behrend Lions were unable to dent down the stretch in the 12-goal victory.
Scoreless through the first three minutes of the first period, Blatter put Carthage in front to stay by driving towards the cage, pulling up five meters out and launching a shot from the right wing to make it 1-0 with 3:33 left in the period. Kimmy Genian (Jr., Gurnee, Ill./Highland Park) spread the margin out to a pair of markers less than a minute later when she collected a missed shot and sprinted down the right-wing for a counter goal with 2:49 on the clock. Following a counter goal by Blatter straight down the middle of the tank at 2:08, Genian closed out the opening frame with a man-up tally at 1:26 to make it 4-0 through eight minutes of competition.
In the second period, Michelle Mulhall (Sr., Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) took over the Lady Reds’ offensive show zipping a cross pool shot on a three-on-two chance at 7:32 before connecting on a sweep shot at 6:54 to make it a 6-0 game. Blatter closed out the first half scoring by turning her defender at two-meters and floating a shot past PSU-Behrend goalie Jenna Zeyfang (Sr., Erie, Pa./Erie First Academy) with 5:26 on the clock for a 7-0 lead.
The deficit and Carthage’s ability to shut down the Behrend Lions’ offense, while cashing in on their chances, were too much for Penn State Behrend to overcome.
MaryEllen Spooner (Fr., Springfield, Va./West Springfield) and Anne Lawrence (So., State College, Pa./State College) accounted for the Lions offense tallying markers at 2:58 of the third period and 2:67 of the fourth period, respectively.
In cage, Zeyfang made four stops for Penn State-Behrend, while the trio of LaChee Singleton (So., Burbank, Calif./Burbank), Jen Pasciak (Jr., Oak Forest, Ill./Orland Park-Sandburg) and Christine Menzenberger (Jr., Mokena, Ill./Frankfort-Lincoln Way East) combined for 11 saves in the Lady Reds’ victorious effort.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| PSU-Behrend | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -- | 2 |
| Carthage College | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | -- | 14 |
Carthage Goals: Patti Blatter (5); Kimmy Genian (4); Michelle Mulhall (2); Emily Schiavone; Agnes Wojtas; Amanda Croix
PSU-Behrend Goals: MaryEllen Spooner; Anne Lawrence
Saves: Carthage - Christine Menzenberger (5), Jen Pasciak (5), LaChee Singleton (1) ; PSU-Behrend - Jenna Zeyfang (4)
Exclusions: Carthage - 0 ; PSU-Behrend -5
Advantage Opportunities: Carthage - 2-for-5 ; PSU-Behrend - 0-for-0
Sprints: Carthage - 4-for-4 ; PSU-Behrend - 0-for-4
