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Stiebler Powers Grove City Past Washington & Jefferson 8-6 at 2010 CWPA Division III Championship
UTICA, N.Y. -- Kate Stiebler (Sr., Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) scored four times, including twice in a climatic third period, to earn Player of the Game accolades and lead Grove City College past Washington & Jefferson College 8-6 and into the 2010 Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Championship title game.
The Wolverines opened up a 3-0 lead in the first period as Brittany LaPalme (Jr., Hollywood, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) lobbed in a shot (7:43), Stiebler rifled a shot home from the left wing (4:56) and Amanda Thompson (Sr., Erie, Pa./McDowell) uncorked a blast from outside which drew nothing but twine (4:20) to put Grove City in front.
However, the Presidents' defense came to life and the W&J offense began to ignite as Sarah Cull (So., Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) drove down the middle of the GCC defense for a shot-and-score at 2:08. The Wolverines recovered the goal and a three-score lead before the conclusion of the period as Lauren Baur (Jr., North Wales, Pa./North Penn) skipped in a shot with five seconds left in the period to make it 4-1 after eight minutes of play.
Washington & Jefferson continued to chip away at the lead in the second period, however, as Kate Van Schaik (Jr., Arnold, Md./St. Mary's) and Katie Silvestri (Sr., Kingsville, Md./McDonogh) converted on power-play chances at 6:01 and 2:28, respectively, to move the Presidents to within 4-3 at halftime.
Following back-to-back unsuccessful man-up chances for both teams to open the second half, Cull found a way to tie the score as she steal the ball from Grove City netminder Amanda Johnston (Fr., San Luis Obispo, Calif./San Luis Obispo) and tossed in a quick shot to knot the game at 4-4 with 5:22 remaining in the third period.
Grove City regained the lead 40 seconds later when Thompson cashed in a man-up bid at 4:42, but back-to-back scores by Stiebler at 2:28 and 1:04 gave the Wolverines back a cushion at 7-4.
Stiebler's mini-run started as Silvestri was whistled for interference at 2:47 to put the Wolverines on a power-play. Stiebler cashed in the opportunity at 2:28 before adding a natural goal at 1:04 by driving towards the cage, stopping abruptly and lobbing a shot over the head of W&J goalie Polly Ziegler (Sr., Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) at 1:04 to complete hat-trick.
Washington & Jefferson rallied back into the contest as Katie Wieber (Jr., Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen) whipped around her defender and unleashed a shot at two-meters (5:06) and Van Schaik scored from the left-wing on a man-up chance to make it 7-6 with 2:26 remaining in regulation.
Needing a hero and a goal in the waning moments of the game, the Wolverines received both from Stielber as she drove down the right-side of the tank and popped a shot into the cage at the 2:12 mark to make it a two-goal game and set the 8-6 final score.
However, the true heroes of the contest were the goalies who combined to turn aside 23 shots, including 10 by Johnston and 13 by Ziegler.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| Washington & Jefferson College | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | -- | 6 |
| Grove City College | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | -- | 8 |
Grove City Goals: Kate Stiebler (4); Amanda Thompson (2); Brittany LaPalme; Lauren Baur
W&J Goals: Kate Van Schaik (2); Sarah Cull (2); Katie Wieber; Katie Silvestri
Saves: Grove City - Amanda Johnston (10) ; W&J - Polly Zeigler (13)
Exclusions: Grove City - 7 ; W&J - 5
Advantage Opportunities: Grove City - 2-for-5 ; W&J - 2-for-7
Sprints: Grove City - 4-for-4 ; W&J - 0-for-4
