Women's Water Polo Splits at W&J

WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend women's water polo team split two away matches against Washington & Jefferson and Caltech Sunday. They fell in game one to W&J 9-7 and came back with a win in game two 13-5 over Caltech.

Lauren Wood (Vernon Hills, IL/Vernon Hills) led the Lions' (5-7) offense in both games, scoring three against W&J and then following that up with a four-goal performance against Caltech. Her second goal against the Presidents (2-7) surpassed her 100 goal mark, giving her 105 career goals after the week.

JoJo Gager (Holland, MI/West Ottawa) was also instrumental in Behrend's offensive performance, adding six goals on the day while Daniella Rio-Martinez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Sagrados Corazones) and Devon Van Rensburg (Johannesburg, South Africa/Crawford) tallied two goals apiece.

In the morning matchup with the Presidents, Behrend struck first to notch an early 1-0 lead. However, W&J retaliated by going on a 5-1 run through the next quarter and a half to hold a 5-2 advantage.

The Presidents continued to bring heat, scoring four more goals compared to Behrend's two, making the score 9-4 midway through the third period.

The Lions tried to claw their way back into the game, scoring three fourth quarter goals, but came up short in the end, falling 9-7.

Alison McClure (Loveland, OH/Milford) made five steals in the game while Jenessa Islas-Parker (Palatine, IL/Frema) posted three steals. Wood also recorded four drawn kickouts in the tough loss.

Game two against the Beavers (0-12) was a different story for the Lions. Two goals from Gager, and one goal from Carson Hagood (Orlando, FL/Bishop Moore Catholic), Rensburg, and Wood gave Behrend a 5-0 lead through the first period and start of the second.

Caltech then scored two goals 40 seconds apart from each other to cut the lead to three with 5:20 remaining.

The Lions put their foot on the gas in the third quarter though, posting six third-quarter goals to 13-4 edge heading into the fourth. Wood hopped in net for the final quarter of the game and posted six saves.

McClure notched four steals and dished out two assists in the win. Rensburg registered three steals and two assists while Remy De Guzman (Mission Viejo, CA/Trabuco Hills) also made three steals.

Angela Laier (Lansing, MI/Holt) and Islas-Parker had three assists each. Goalie Holly Rae Hanson (Rancho Cucamonga, CA/ Rancho Cucamonga) made two saves in the game.

The Lions will head to Monmouth University for the second CWPA Regional Tournament on Saturday. They will face-off against Utica at 1:45 p.m., and then Monmouth at 5:30 p.m.