Boland & Spooner Lead Penn State Behrend Past Utica on Day 2 of 2010 CWPA Division III Championship

UTICA, N.Y. -- Player of the Game Tegan Boland (Jr., Roselle, Ill./Conant) and MaryEllen Spooner (Fr., Springfield, Va./West Springfield) both notched hat-tricks as Penn State Behrend tallied three goals in the first, second and third periods to upend Utica College 9-4 at the 2010 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship at Utica.

The Behrend Lions jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period thanks to a pair of scores by Boland and a solo marker from the the hand of Kendell Duffy (So., Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills).

Boland started the scoring with 4:56 left in the period as she buried a counter score before Duffy netted a power-play tally at 4:14 to make it 2-0.  The margin expanded to 3-0 as Boland threaded through the Pioneers' defense for a cross-cage shot with 18 ticks on the period clock to make it 3-0.

Utica sliced the deficit to a pair of markers 10 seconds into the second period as Amanda Sulicz (Jr., West Palm Beach, Fla./Lake Worth) drilled a shot from far outside, but the Lions responded three-fold to make it 6-1 with 1:39 left in the half.

Spooner ignited the run by contributing a counter score (5:46) before ripping a point blank shot into the mesh (2:37) to put the Behrend Lions in front 5-1.  Boland closed out the spurt by completing a hat-trick with a rollaway shot from two-meters out at the 1:39 mark.  However, Utica drew last blood in the period and half as Sulicz connected on a sweep shot 13 seconds later for a 6-2 score at halftime.

The margin quickly spread to six goals in third period as Spooner scored on a counter breakaway (7:16) and Jillian Sebrosky (Jr., Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) unleashed a successful five-meter penalty shot (2:39) to go in front 8-2.  Sulicz chipped a score off the deficit at 1:49 with a free-throw score from nine-meters out as the shot clock expired to drive the Pioneers within five goals, but Spooner notched a man-up score with 40 seconds left in the period to return the lead to six markers.

Alyssa Cortese (Jr., New Hartford, N.Y./New Hartford) closed out the game's scoring at the 4:04 mark of the fourth period as neither team could muster quality shots over the final eight minutes of play for the 9-4 final.

Between the pipes, Jenna Zeyfang (Sr., Erie, Pa./Erie First Academy) picked up the win with six saves, while Kera Langdon (Jr., Remsen, N.Y./Holland Patent) took the loss with four stops.

The loss ensures Utica finishes ninth at the championship as PSU-Behrend advances to face Chatham University in the seventh place game.

Utica Goals: Amanda Sulicz (3); Alyssa Cortese

PSU-Behrend Goals: Tegan Boland (3); MaryEllen Spooner (3); Kendell Duffy; Jillian Sebrosky; Danielle Wilson

Saves: Utica - Kera Langdon (4) ; PSU-Behrend - Jenna Zeyfang (5)

Exclusions: Utica - 5 ; PSU-Behrend - 5

Advantage Opportunities: Utica - 0-for-5 ; PSU-Behrend - 3-for-5

Sprints: Utica - 4-for-4 ; PSU-Behrend - 0-for-4