April 18, 2010
Molly Chamberlain scored the biggest goal of her career in double overtime as the Siena Water Polo team overcame St. Francis 14-13 to secure the fourth and final spot in next week's MAAC Championships. Earlier in the day, the Saints cruised by Villanova 14-8 and will return to the conference tournament for the second time in the past three seasons.
Siena (12-21, 4-6) began the day on a high note, defeating Villanova for an eighth straight time. The Saints wasted no time in building a 6-0 first quarter lead and led comfortably throughout.
Camille Norman and Katie Ness led the way with each posting hat tricks, while Devan Ragg, Monica Chaviano and Jackie Crosby each tallied a pair of goals.
In an all or nothing nightcap in which the winner would advance to the MAAC Championships and the loser would see its season end, Siena got in trouble early, trailing St. Francis 5-2 after the first quarter. The teams then exchanged leads throughout the remainder of the game, fittingly sending the contest into overtime tied at 13.
After the teams posted a scoreless first overtime, Chamberlain, who had scored just eight goals all season, fired home the game winner to clinch the playoff berth for Siena. After failing to qualify for the conference tournament in its first five tries, the Saints return for the second time in three seasons.
In the clincher, a veteran team received strong contributions from a pair of freshmen as Chaviano posted a career-high four goals while teammate Alexandra McDowell recorded her first career hat trick. Jennifer Kissel was equally impressive in goal where she registered a program-record 20 saves.
Norman added two more goals, running her total to 82 for the season - one shy of Lauren Garrigan's program record of 83 set just last season. Norman did however break Garrigan's single-season points record. With a monster 20-point performance this weekend, she raised her season total to 128 points, easily surpassing Garrigan's record of 119 from last season.
Siena, the #4 four seed in the MAAC Tournament, will battle top seed and tournament host Marist on Saturday at the McCann Natatorium in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Game time is 1 p.m.
