ERIE, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College women's water polo continued its strong recent stretch with a pair of wins Saturday morning at the CWPA Regional Tournament, which was hosted by Penn State Behrend in Erie.
The wins improve W&J to 4-6 overall and 3-0 in CWPA divisional play.
W&J 13, Connecticut College 11
The Presidents opened the day with a narrow two-goal victory in what materialized as a back-and-forth matchup.
W&J trailed by a 3-2 score after the first quarter but battled back in the second to even the score at 7-7 at halftime.
Ryley McClellan (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) accounted for three-straight goals over the final 2:36 of the first half to even the score.
The Presidents found themselves trailing again in the third quarter before rallying late in the frame. Consecutive scores by
Anastacia Didovich (Venice, Fla. / Venice) and
Jillian Curtis (Woodland Hills, Calif. / El Camino Real Charter) pushed the Presidents back in front, as they lead 10-9 after three quarters.
A strong start to the fourth quarter allowed the Presidents to salt away the victory. W&J opened the frame with three-straight goals to take a four-goal lead. W&J was able to hold on for the 13-11 victory.
McClellan continued her dominance, as the senior finished with a game-high five goals. DePrez backed that performance with a hat trick of her own.
W&J 11, Utica 3
The Presidents used a big second half scoring differential to coast to the victory. After leading by a 3-2 margin at halftime, W&J outscored Utica by an 8-1 margin in the second half.
Sydney Neumann (Long Beach, Calif. / Millikan) finished with a team-high four goals in the win. McClellan notched another hat trick with three goals while
Mekkiye Ergun (Chicago, Ill. / Lake View) finished with two scores.
McClellan has now totaled 34 goals in just 10 games overall this season.
UP NEXT: W&J travels to the West Coast to play a pair of matches over Spring Break. The Presidents face Caltech on Tuesday, March 21 and take on Westcliff on Wednesday, March 22.
