ERIE, Pa. - The Penn State Behrend women's water polo team won their Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) regional tournament opening game 9-6 over Macalester Friday evening.
The Lions (3-11) took down the Scots (2-15) 7-3 earlier this season to record their first win. Friday, Lauren Wood (Vernon Hills, IL/Vernon Hills) and Brittany Pinter (Erie, PA/McDowell) led the way for Behrend's offense, each tallying three goals.
Maryn Horn (Houston, TX/Jersey Village), Clare Jefferys (Erie, PA/Villa Maria Academy) and Kaitlyn Conely (Exeter, CA/Exeter) also scored a goal.
Mary Therese Causgrove (Erie, PA/McDowell) and Kara Stegmann (Harleysville, PA/Souderton Area) held down the fort on the defensive end. Causgrove recorded six steals and Stegmann made six saves in net.
Macalester put themselves on the scoreboard first, scoring just 44 seconds into the game. Wood quickly answered 25 seconds later and tied the game at 1-all.
Just over three minutes of strong defense by both teams prevented any quality scoring opportunities. With just under two minutes left in the first, Stegmann through a perfect outlet pass to Pinter who found the back of the net and put the Lions up 2-1.
The second quarter was all Behrend. Wood and Conely each notched goals in the frame and Stegmann made a huge diving save to keep their two-goal advantage heading into halftime.
In the third, the Lions built their lead by another goal. Horn made it a 5-2 game with 5:21 left in the third. The Scots stormed back and score two straight goals to put the pressure on Behrend. Then Pinter found her spot. In back-to-back possessions, she placed a shot from the left side of the pool to the lower right corner of the net and put her team back up three at 7-4.
Macalester started the fourth with some momentum, scoring early in the frame. The Lions stopped any threat and scored the next three goals and put the icing on the cake to seal their first win of the weekend.
Behrend is back in the pool tomorrow with games against Monmouth and Utica at 10:20 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. respectively.
