GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College women's water polo team (4-3) split the opening two matches at the CWPA Weekend hosted by Grove City. The team started off the day with a tight 17-16 defeat to the Penn State Behrend Lions (3-5). The Presidents closed off the first day with a 13-11 win over the host Grove City Wolverines (1-10).
 
W&J 16, PSU Behrend 17
Sophomore Emmie Ratcliff (Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood) led the Presidents with nine goals throughout the contest. Mackenzie Caron (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) had three goals and a steal. Junior Hallie Ratcliff (Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood) and Chloe Majorprice (Manchester, Mich./Skyline) each had two goals and three steals to round out the scoring for W&J. Freshman Riley Gutierrez (Deer Park, Texas/Deer Park) also compiled up three steals of her own.  
 
The contest between the two teams proved to be close right from the opening swim off.  W&J got off to a strong start taking a slight two goal advantage at the end of the opening eight minutes. E. Ratcliff had an opening period hat trick, while Caron had two. H. Ratcliff capped off a six-goal opening quarter for the Presidents.
 
Each team put five goals in the net throughout the second period allowing W&J to keep their narrow two goal lead into the final two periods. E. Ratcliff had her second consecutive hat trick in eight minutes of play during this contest. Majorprice also tallied the freshman's two goals in this period.
 
The Lions did not go away and were able to cut the narrow W&J lead down to one. Caron and the Ratcliff Sisters each had a goal in the period. Penn State Behrend found one final push of offense in the closing eight minutes to take the overall win 17-16. E. Ratcliffrat had the final two goals for the Presidents.
 
Lani Weaver (Conroe, Texas/Conroe) had eight saves in goal for the Presidents.
 
W&J 13, Grove City 11
E. Ratcliff and Majorprice both led the Presidents offensively with four goals apiece in the final game for day one of the CWPA Weekend hosted by Grove City. H. Ratcliff and sophomore Autumn Woollcott (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) each had added two goals to their season tallies. Caron rounded out the scoring with one of the freshman's own.
 
The Presidents put together a strong start defensively by only holding the hosts to two goals during the opening eight minutes. E. Ratcliff and Woolcott each started the game with two goals for the Red & Black.
 
Grove City made sure that the Presidents did not pull away early and were able to cut the slim lead down to a single goal. E. Ratcliff secured the hat trick and Majorprice got her first of the contest to allow W&J to take a 6-5 lead into the second half.
 
W&J found an extra goal in the third period to extend their lead back to two, which proved to be insurmountable for the Wolverines. Majorprice found the back of the net twice for her hat trick. H. Ratcliffe and Caron each combined for their three goals of the matchup. W&J locked down defensively in the fourth period to secure the 13-11 win. Majorprice and E. Ratcliff each scored to round out their four goal performances.
 
Weaver held her ground in goal, stopping 13 Grove City shots in the contest. The Presidents as a team combined for 13 steals throughout the course of this conference match.
 
The Presidents return to the pool for the final day of the CWPA weekend hosted by Grove City tomorrow (3/8). W&J will take on the New England tandem of the Wheaton (Mass.) College Lyons and the Connecticut College Camels. The opening match against the Lyons will be at 8:00 a.m. and the final match of the day against the Camels will be at 1:30 p.m.