Women's Water Polo Falls to Monmouth; Defeats Utica

ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend women's water polo team split in their games on day two of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) regional tournament in the Junker pool Saturday. They fell to Monmouth in game one 7-6 and then beat Utica 11-5 in game two.

After the loss in game one, the Lions (4-11) came out firing in game two. With a roaring crowd behind them, they scored five goals in the first quarter to take a 5-0 lead.

Just under two minutes in, Clare Jefferys (Erie, PA/Villa Maria Academy) scored to put Behrend on the board. She then scored 19 seconds later for a 2-0 advantage. Within the next 50 seconds, Lauren Wood (Vernon Hills, IL/Vernon Hills) tallied two goals to fire up the crowd even more.

Brittany Pinter (Erie, PA/McDowell) added a fifth goal at the 3:16 mark. Kaitlyn Conely (Exeter, CA/Exeter), Allie Schneider (Erie, PA/McDowell), Maryn Horn (Houston, TX/Jersey Village) and Jefferys all notched goals in the second quarter to take a 9-2 halftime lead over the Pioneers (0-12).

Behrend coasted from there. Wood and Horn each scored another goal in the second half and the Lions secured their fourth victory of the season.

Game one was a tight battle between Behrend and the Fighting Scots (6-9). Earlier this season, Monmouth took a 13-9 win and Saturday the Lions looked to even the series.

Behrend struck first with Horn scoring at the 6:16 mark in the first quarter. The two teams traded goals and ended the period in a 2-all tie. The next two quarters was where Monmouth built their lead. They scored four straight goals through the second and third quarters to take a 6-2 advantage.

The Lions got one back before the third ended and another in the start of the fourth. The Scots added their seventh goal before Wood scored two huge goals 30 seconds apart to force a 7-6 game with 1:22 remaining in the contest.

One minute later Behrend had a chance to tie the game, but luck was not on their side. A shot as time wound down crushed the crossbar and Monmouth secured the rebound and held on to the one-goal win.

The Lions play their final two games of the tournament tomorrow against Connecticut College and Carthage at 10:20 a.m. and 2:20 p.m. respectively.