ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Carthage College women's water polo team dropped the first match of the season 12-10 against No. 7 Macalester before collecting a win over Monmouth 13-11 Saturday at Leonard Natatorium. 

The Lady Reds (1-1) began game one with a 3-1 lead over the Scots (1-0) with goals from Megan Cales, Nell Behr and Meghan Fisher. In the second quarter, Cales added her second goal of the game to put the visitors up 4-2. Macalester rallied to tie the game at four and later, took control of the game at 6-5. The Scots added another goal to extend the margin to 7-5 in the third until Cales scored her third goal to make it 7-6. With the score 10-8 in favor of the Scots, the Lady Reds put in another goal to narrow the deficit to one but Macalester went on to take the game 12-10. 

In the second game of the day, Carthage started with a 2-0 lead until Monmouth (0-2) rallied to tie it at 2. The Lady Reds retaliated scoring two goals to take a 4-2 lead into the second quarter. Carthage scored four goals from Fisher, Behr, Cales, and Morgan Fingerson to go up 8-4 heading into the third. 

To start the third, the Fighting Scots scored three-straight goals to shrink the lead to 8-7. Two goals from Cales and Arianna Dakuras pushed the Lady Reds advantage back up to 10-7. Later in the quarter, Cales put in another goal in the forth to give the visitors a 11-7 margin. Goals from Fingerson, Dakuras and Cales extended the margin to 13-9 before going on to win the game 13-11. 

Next, the Lady Reds face La Verne on Sunday, February 23 beginning at 11 a.m.  

Head Coach Ryan Castle

"It was a good outing for us to start the season. Anytime you can score 10 goals, that's a good offensive output. So overall I was happy with how we competed in both games, but a little disappointed with our collective defensive organization. But that will come as we play more games and improve individually and collectively. Emma Jeronimus really played well in the cage throughout the day. Megan Cales was outstanding in the field and really helped spark the team offensively."

Quick Facts

• Megan Cales led the way for the Lady Reds as she registered 13 goals, three assists, two steals and three ejections drawn. 
• Goalie Emma Jeronimus tallied 39 saves, two of which were penalty shot saves and five steals. 
• Morgan Fingerson chipped in with two goals and an assist. 
• The victory in the second game marked the first win for head coach Ryan Castle at the helm of the women's water polo program. 

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