Women's Water Polo | 4/9/2017 5:13:00 PM
ONEONTA, NY – 'Wick's water polo team trailed by as many as five to nationally tenth-ranked Princeton but trimmed the gap to one with under a minute left on Sunday in CWPA action at Moyer Pool. Unfortunately for the Hawks, they never got another possession and fell a goal short, 13-12.
Katie McKenty (Auckland, New Zealand / Takapuna Grammar School),
Tori Wilson (Kitchener, ONT / Grand River Collegiate Institute), and
Lauren Brennan (Canberra, Australia / St. Clares College) each scored consecutive goals in the final 3:58 of the final quarter to get the Hawks to 13-12. Brennan's tally off a Kotanchyan feed came with just 42 seconds remaining. There was an eight-second differential in the game and shot clock and the Tigers held the ball until the last second before shooting. Their shot was blocked by a 'Wick defender, but the ball bounced back into the arms of the visitors. Following a timeout, Princeton ran out the clock for the narrow victory.
Wilson led Hartwick with three goals.
Lena Kotanchyan (Moscow, Russia / Elk Island School #368),
Nikolina Mihajlovik (Mississauga, ONT / Silverthorn Collegiate Inst.), and
Charlotte Cottle (Blakehurst, Australia / Presbyterian Ladies College) each chipped in with two goals apiece.
The first quarter saw nine goals with the Hawks countering the Tigers' tallies. Princeton started with two goals early but goals from Kotanchyan, Mihajlovik, and Wilson evened the score at 3-all with 1:12 left. Three goals total from both teams with under 40 seconds left gave the Tigers a 5-4 lead after eight minutes.
L.J. Edwards (Encinitas, CA / Cathedral Catholic HS) registered the late 'Wick tally.
Cottle scored to tie it at five early in the second period, but Princeton would net three of the next four goals to take a 9-6 advantage deep into the quarter. Kotanchyan made the deficit just two with a goal 18 seconds before halftime. The Tigers, however, were awarded a 5-meter with just 0.8 seconds to go. They converted to increase the lead to three at the half.
Wilson tallied to begin the third quarter only to have Princeton score the next three goals for a big 13-8 edge. Mihajlovik got one back to make it a 13-9 game at the end of three quarters before the Hawks made their fourth-quarter run to get within a goal.
With the result, Hartwick falls to 18-9 overall and 2-2 in the CWPA standings. The Tigers improve to 21-3 and 6-1 in the league.
The Hawks wrap up the regular season next weekend with four CWPA matches at Brown University. 'Wick plays St. Francis, Harvard, the host Bears, and Indiana.
