Water polo hosts round robin conference play, goes 3-1 on weekend 

Over the weekend, the water polo team hosted four of their competitors in the C ollegiate Water Polo Association for the CWPA Round Robin 1. The Scots fared well and went 3-1 in Riley Pool across t wo days. 

Macalester played its first matchup on Saturday morning against C ar thage College, whom they defeated 8-5. The Firebirds are 1-10 on the season and have yet to log an in-conference win, but they put up a decent effor t against the Scots, who have already beaten them once this season. 

At half time, the teams found themselves knot ted up at 3-3, but in the third quarter, the Scots took over, with Pooja Bucklin ’27, Alana Nadolski ’26 and Kendall Strauss ’26 each scoring a goal to put a cushion between themselves and the Firebirds. From there, Macalester cruised to a victory; Nadolski scored four of their eight goals on the morning.

• That afternoon, the Scots continued their win streak with a resounding 20-10 victory over Washington and Jefferson College. The Presidents went 1-3 at the tournament, and the Scots notched their largest margin victory of the season against them.

• The game began with the Scots rattling off nine unanswered points before the Presidents could finally land one in the back of the net. At halftime, Macalester led 11-3. Bucklin dominated, finishing with eight goals. Jess Palmer Sammons ’26 had a strong outing as well, ending with four goals of her own.

• Early on Sunday morning, the Scots faced Austin College and came away with a narrow 12-11 victory. This win snapped a six-game losing streak to the Roos for Macalester. The Roos went 2-2 at Riley Pool on the weekend.

• After a 1-1 first quarter, the Scots jumped out to 6-2 lead in the second, behind goals from Bucklin, Kendall Coney ’25, Palmer-Sammons and Lorelei Bell ’26. Bucklin and Coney each ended the game with four goals apiece.

• The Scots maintained their lead throughout the second half and were up 12-8 with four and a half minutes to go in the game when the Roos roared to life and rattled off three straight goals to give the Scots a fright. Despite the late-game outburst, Macalester managed to hang on for the win behind 13 saves from Laurel O’Hare ’24 in the goal.

• In their final matchup of the weekend on Sunday afternoon, the Scots finally fell to Augustana College (Illinois) in a 14-4 defeat, marking their first loss in the CWPA this season. The Vikings went undefeated through the weekend and have only lost three games all season.

• The Scots struggled to get on the board in the first half, heading into the third quarter staring down a 0-5 deficit. They finally scored in the second half, but it was too little too late and the Vikings closed them out with a six goal fourth quarter.

• Hannah Fasi ’27, Coney, Nadolski and Bucklin each had a goal but came away with little else to show for it. The Scots are now 8-4 on the season.

• Bucklin’s scoring outburst earned her CWPA Rookie of the Week Honors for the second week in a row, and Coney’s nine total goals on the weekend earned her a place on the CWPA Honor Roll.