Lions Fall Short Against W&J and Grove City

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend women's water polo team fell twice today, first to Washington & Jefferson 7-2 and then Grove City 9-2 on Saturday in the Junker Center.

Mary Therese Causgrove (Erie, PA/McDowell) scored three goals on the day and Paula Rusca (Chicago, IL/Whitney Young) added one, while Kara Stegmann (Harleysville, PA/Souderton) made some big saves in both matches to keep the Lions within reach.

In the first match against the Presidents, Behrend held W&J to just one goal in the first quarter and scoreless in the fourth. The Presidents were able to add three goals in both the second and third period to stretch the lead on the Lions.

Behrend tallied both of its goals in the second quarter. Rusca scored the first goal at the 3:15 mark and Causgrove put one in the net less than a minute later to make it 7-2 in favor of W&J.  

In game two, the Lions were looking for revenge on Grove City after falling 13-12 earlier in the season. Causgrove registered both goals for Behrend. On her first goal, she took a penalty shot that was saved but the deflection came back into play and she grabbed the rebound to make it 2-1 after the first quarter.

The Wolverines held a 4-1 lead at halftime and the Lions managed to cut the margin by two with Causgrove's second goal with 3:30 left in the third quarter.  From there, Grove City tallied five more goals, despite Stegmann stopping point-blank shots taken by the Wolverines in the fourth period.

Behrend returns to action on Friday at the CWPA Division III Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota.