April 23, 2010

Wolverines win two at CWPA Championships

UTICA, N.Y. -- The Grove City College women's water polo team earned a pair of wins Friday in the inaugural Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Championships at Utica College's Pool of Champions. The top-seeded Wolverines (15-10) opened play with a 16-6 win over No. 8 Chatham in the quarterfinals. Grove City then slipped past longtime rival Washington & Jefferson Friday night in the semifinals.

The wins place Grove City in Saturday's championship match against No. 2 seed Carthage at 3:30 p.m.

Seven different Grove City players scored in the win over Chatham. Senior Amanda Thompson (Erie, Pa./McDowell) fired in six goals for the Wolverines while classmate Kate Stiebler (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) pumped in four goals. Junior Brittany LaPalme (Hollywood, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) scored twice. Junior Lauren Baur (North Wales, Pa./North Penn), sophomore Amanda Brush (Charlton, N.Y./Schenectady Christian), sophomore Amy Fleming (Annandale, Va./Annandale) and freshman Michelle Shimrock (Willoughby, Ohio/Willoughby South) all scored once.

Fleming paced Grove City defensively with five steals. In goal, freshman Amanda Johnston (San Luis Obispo, Calif./San Luis Obispo) stopped nine shots to earn the win.

Grove City jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first period against W&J and never trailed. Stiebler recorded four goals while Thompson added a pair of scores for the Wolverines. Baur and LaPalme each scored once against W&J.

Johnston tallied 10 saves in goal for Grove City to earn the win.

Grove City completed the CWPA Division III regular-season schedule with a 10-0 league mark. This is the first season of play for the CWPA Division III conference. Grove City defeated Carthage 13-5 March 6 in Pittsburgh during the regular season.

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