MONMOUTH, Ill. -- Macalester fell to Connecticut College, 16-6, to open the day but picked up a 13-11 win over Grove City and an 8-7 win over Carthage to finish the first day of the College Water Polo Association West Robin Tournament with a 2-1 record.

Hannah Shoemaker scored two minutes, 41 seconds into the morning match with Connecticut but the Camels scored the final three goals of the opening quarter and would take a 7-2 lead by halftime and never looked back.

Adrienne Burgin's second-quarter goal was the first of her three in the match while Gray and Sarah Shoemaker would each add one more. Anya Phillips and Emma Toomer split time in goal, making seven and six saves, respectively.

"Transitioning back to conference play is always a challenge," Phillips, a team co-captain, said after the game. "Our anticipation on defense was good and we know what we need to work on for our next game."

When the next game came around some three hours later, the Scots were ready.

Macalester jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the opening quarter but found itself trailing, 9-8, heading into the final quarter before Hannah Bonestroo evened the game early in the final quarter and, within the next 81 seconds, Burgin and Zexin Nai scored to give the Scots a two-goal lead.

The Wolverines would, once again, come back to tie the game but Burgin scored the eventual game winner with 1:59 to play and Brooke Finney added an insurance goal.

Hannah Gray, who scored twice in the opening quarter, finished with her second four-game goal of the week while Shoemaker and Burgin both contributed three goals with Finney, Nai and Bonestroo each scoring once.

Phillips made five saves before giving way to Toomer who made seven and was in goal during Macalester's fourth-quarter rally.

"The team faced a tough challenge in the second and third quarters," Burgin said afterwards. "But we learned from past games to attack and finish strong."

With one more late game on the slate for the day, the Scots got ready for rival Carthage, which they lost to in last year's conference third-place game in six overtimes.

After the Lady Reds jumped out to a 1-0 lead, Macalester big three scorers of Burgin, Gray and Shoemaker each scored goals to give the Scots a 3-1 lead after one quarter.

Burgin, Gray and Anya Phillips would score in the quarter as Macalester took a 6-2 lead into halftime and appeared ready to cruise to their second win of the day.

Carthage, however, had different plans, outscoring the Scots 5-2 in the final 16 minutes, including 2-0 in the fourth quarter, but Toomer was strong in goal down the stretch and Macalester held on for its third win of the season.

"We always feel like it's a big game when we play Carthage," Macalester senior co-captain Shoemaker said. "It felt great to pull out the win."

The conference round robin tournament continues through Sunday. The Scots have three more games on tap, Saturday, opening with Utica at 10:20 a.m. They will then play host Monmouth at 2:20 p.m. before wrapping up the day with a 6:20 p.m. match versus Penn State-Behrend and, Sunday, they concluded tournament play by facing Washington & Jefferson at 2:20 p.m.