ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Washington & Jefferson College women's water polo team lost in down to the wire sudden death match against the Augustana Vikings (No. 2 seed) in the third-place game of the 2025 USA Water Polo Collegiate Division III National Championship Tournament.
Both teams were strong defensively in the first quarter, only allowing each other one goal in the eight-minute stint. W&J's first goal came from Senior Sydney Neumann (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) at the 1:05 mark, 1-1.
Both teams traded the lead in the second. The Vikings took the initial lead off the sprint before W&J netted three straight goals to take the lead, 4-2. Neumann netted the first to tie things up, 2-2, before assisting Emma Halle (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) in the go-ahead goal, 3-2. Hallie Ratcliff (Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood) capped the scoring with a long-range goal, 4-2.
Halle tallied the only goal for the Presidents in the third quarter as Augustana pulled ahead with an 8-5 lead.
H. Ratcliff converted a powerplay goal to start closing the gap in the fourth quarter, 8-6. Laura Anthony (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) logged the next goal on a made penalty shot before Halle netted the tying tally assisted by Emmie Ratcliff (Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood), 8-8. After another Viking goal, Anastacia Didovich (Venice, Fla./Venice) scored with five seconds left to tie things up again, 9-9. A last second save by Alliey Cunningham (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) in the fourth forced the end of regulation and overtime, which consisted of two three-minute overtime periods.
In the first overtime period, Augustana netted the first goal before Neumann skipped in a retaliation goal, 10-10. The Vikings then put up two more to head into the second overtime period ahead 12-10.
The Ratcliff sisters each netted a goal in the second overtime to progress the game to sudden death. E. Ratcliff found the first score followed by sister H. Ratcliff on an assist from Laura Anthony (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy), 12-12.
Despite battling through regulation and both overtime periods, the Presidents fell in the three-minute sudden death period as Augustana found the back of the net to claim third place, 13-12 at the 1:34 mark.
The Presidents end their season 14-9 overall with a 6-2 conference mark. This year's team helped W&J to the USA Water Polo Collegiate Division III National Championship Tournament for the first time in program history.
