 |  |
Wheaton Downs Washington & Jefferson 12-7 in 2010 CWPA Division III Championship Third Place Game
UTICA, N.Y. -- Heather Crockett (So., San Mateo, Calif./Aragon) and Kathryn Sheehy (Fr., Ventura, Calif./Foothill Technology) both registered hat-tricks as Wheaton College outscored Washington & Jefferson College 5-2 in the second half to pull away for a 12-7 victory in the third place game of the 2010 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship at Utica College.
Wheaton never trailed in the game as the Thunder opened up a 4-2 advantage in the first period and stymied the Presidents' comeback hopes for most of the contest.
A key to the Thunder's early lead was Wheaton's proficiency on man-up chances as Linley Sullivan (Fr., Poway, Calif./Poway), Jessica McKee (So., Troy, Mich./Troy) and Sheehy converted on power-play chances at 6:32, 5:32 and 36 seconds, respectively, to build the early margin.
Emma Higgins (Jr., Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) added to the advantage as she connected on an outside shot at the 6:58 mark of the second period to make it a 5-2 game. Kate Van Schaik (Jr., Arnold, Md./St. Mary's) scored on an exclusion opportunity at 4:10 to move W&J back to within two, but McKee responded with a counter marker at the three minute mark to return Wheaton's three goal lead.
Following back-to-back tallies by Van Schaik and Katie Wieber (Jr., Collegeville, Pa/Perkiomen) with 2:40 and 21 seconds left in the half, respectivley, to trim the deficit to 5-3, Higgins closed out the first 16 minutes of play with a bar-in goal with five ticks on the clock as Wheaton swam to the side with a 7-5 lead at halftime.
Crockett contributed her second goal of the day with 6:22 left in the third period as she faked a drive and zipped a shot from the outside into the cage to build the margin to 8-5. However, W&M closed out the period with consecutive scores by Katie Silvestri (Sr., Kingsville, Md./McDonogh) who notched a man-up score at 1:52 and added a counter goal with 26 seconds remaining in the quarter to move the Presidents within striking distance at 8-7.
Needing some breathing room to stiffle W&J's comeback plans, the Wheaton turned to Morgan Sorenson (Fr., Altadena, Calif./Westridge) who lobbed a shot into the cage 1:10 into the final period for the first of four strikes by the Thunder. Leading 9-7, the Orange & Blue continued to add insurance tallies as Sheehy tacked on shots from the left-wing at 2:08 and at the final buzzer, while Crockett lobbed home a shot at 1:39, for the 12-7 final.
Karalee Angus (Fr., San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) earned the victory in cage for the Thunder with nine saves, while Polly Ziegler (Sr., Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) took the loss and concluded her CWPA career with 13 saves.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| Washington & Jefferson College | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | -- | 7 |
| Wheaton College | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -- | 12 |
Wheaton Goals: Heather Crockett (3); Kathryn Sheehy (3); Jessica McGee (2); Emma Higgins (2); Morgan Sorenson; Linley Sullivan
W&J Goals: Katie Silvestri (2); Kate Van Schaik (2); Jessica Barby; Sarah Cull; Katie Wieber
Saves: Wheaton - Karalee Angus (9) ; W&J - Polly Ziegler (13)
Exclusions: Wheaton - 5 ; W&J - 4
Advantage Opportunities: Wheaton - 3-for-4 ; W&J - 2-for-5
Sprints: Wheaton - 4-for-4 ; W&J - 0-for-4
