April 29, 2011

Grove City advances to finals

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Grove City College women's water polo team will battle for its second straight Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III title Saturday as the Wolverines have advanced to the title match of the CWPA Division III Championships at Macalester College. Grove City (16-12 overall) opened play Friday with a 16-3 win over No. 7 seed Utica in the quarterfinals. The second-seeded Wolverines then downed No. 3 Wheaton (Ill.) 7-1 in Friday afternoon's semifinals.

Grove City will play No. 4 Washington & Jefferson in Saturday's title match.

Senior Brittany LaPalme (Hollywood, Fla./Thomas Aquinas) and junior Chelsea Johnson (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) both fired in four goals each in the with over Utica. Junior Andrea Wilson (Newberg, Ore./Veritas School) scored three times and senior Lauren Baur (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) added two goals.

Senior Allison White (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield), junior Amanda Brush (Charlton, N.Y./Schenectady Christian) and freshman Kristi Baur (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) all scored once. Kristi Baur also assisted on two goals. Johnson, LaPalme, White and Wilson all had one assist each.

Defensively, Johnson posted five steals. Wilson and Johnson both had four thefts while both Baurs had three steals. In goal, sophomore Amanda Johnston (San Luis Obispo, Calif./San Luis Obispo) stopped 11 saves to record the win.

Grove City converted seven of eight man advantage situations against Utica.

Johnston stopped 11 shots in Friday's second match as the Wolverines held Wheaton to just one goal. Johnson paced the Grove City offense with three goals while Wilson scored twice. LaPalme and junior Amy Fleming (Annandale, Va./Annandale) each added one goal. Fleming and Lauren Baur both assisted on goals. Grove City led 5-0 at halftime.

Johnson now has 87 goals, the highest single-season total in program history. She scored 85 times in 2010.

Grove City entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Wolverines defeated Carthage in the 2010 championship match. Carthage entered this year's tournament as top seed but fell to Macalester in the quarterfinals, 11-10.

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