GROVE CITY Pa. — Gladys Contreras (Fr., Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley) scored seven goals to claim Player of the Game honors as Carthage College built an 11-3 halftime lead and never looked back in defeating Connecticut College by a 17-9 score at Longnecker Competition Pool in the opening game of the 2022 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship hosted by Grove City College.

The win marks Carthage's first victory of the 2022 season and advances the Firebirds (1-18, 0-8 CWPA Division III-West) into a quarterfinal clash with defending CWPA Champion/CWPA Division III-West regular season champion/Division III No. 5-nationally ranked Austin College at 5:20 p.m. on Thursday, April 21.  The victor of the Carthage-Austin game advances into the championship semifinals and guarantees the victor of the Firebirds-Kangaroos clash no worse than a fourth place finish at the championship event.

Carthage never trailed against four-time (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) CWPA Division III Champion Connecticut (2-12, 2-6 CWPA Division III-East) as Contreras ripped in a shot with 5:46 left in the first quarter to stake the Firebirds to the lead.  Maria Sell (Jr., San Mateo, Calif./Aragon) squared the squads at one-all by cashing in on a man-up opportunity at 5:11, but Alyssa Sayatovic (So., Berwyn, Ill./Fenwick) delivered a response by converting on a man-up bid at 4:58 to once again hand Carthage the lead at 2-1.

The Camels kept spitting back strikes, however, as Marissa Moreno (Sr., San Diego, Calif./Grossmont) flushed a six-on-five chance at 2:52 to pull Connecticut event at two-all.
The tide of the contest shifted in the waning moments of the first quarter as Contreras (2:34) and Sayatovic (34 seconds) ticked off back-to-back tallies two minutes apart to provide the Firebirds the lead and some breathing room at 4-2 entering the second quarter.

Carthage's offensive fireworks continued in the second quarter as Victoria Hodges (So., Oxford, Mich./Lake Orion), Sophie Flott (Sr., Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) and Dominika Myrda (Fr., Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) rifled in back-to-back-to-back bids at 6:54, 6:17 and 5:12, respectively, to make the score 7-2.

Connecticut terminated the scoring streak at five with 3:47 left in the first half as Sell lined in a five-meter penalty shot to close the gap to four at 7-3.

However, Carthage went back on the attack to further pad its lead as Contreras (3:08, 2:12), Flott (1:44) and Sayatovic (1:15) closed out the first 16 minutes of competition to widen the chasm between the teams to 11-3.

Contreras (6:45) and Annika Hoglund (So., Mesa, Ariz./Desert Ridge) opened the second half with even-strength (6:45) and man-up (5:20) markers to make it 13-3, but Sell (5:04) and Gicel Zuniga (So., Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) (4:18, man-up) answered for the Camels to shrink the difference back to eight at 13-5.

Carthage capped off its scoring in the closing minutes of the third quarter as Hoglund (3:07), Contreras (2:27, 1:23) and Kayli Sayatovic (Sr., Berwyn, Ill./River Forest-Trinity) (27 seconds) tacked on scores to make it a 17-5 contest through 24 minutes of competition.

Connecticut shrank the final margin of victory down to 12 in the fourth quarter prior to the final horn as Sell (4:18, 3:38, 3:09) and Sarah Franco (So., Weston, Conn./Weston) finished four shots in the final four minutes to establish the 17-9 final score.

For Carthage, Contreras (seven), Alyssa Sayatovic (three), Flott (two) and Hoglund (two) each netted multi-goal games in combining for 14 scores.  Myrda, Hodges and Kayli Sayatovic each notched solo tallies in support of a combined eight save effort by netminders Taylor Woitesek (So., Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) and Evelyn Kajohn (Fr., Wauconda, Ill./Mundelein).

Sell keyed the Camels with five goals, while Franco, Moreno and Zuniga each put away solo tallies.  Olivia Fechner-Lewis (Sr., Berkeley, Calif./Berkeley) made four saves in taking the loss.

The Camels will continue the tournament at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, April 22, as Connecticut faces the loser of a first round game pitting the host Wolverines of three-time (2010, 2011, 2012) champion Grove City College and Scots of three-time (2017, 2018, 2019) champion Macalester College.