ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College water polo team opened the 2022 season by hosting the Macalester Invitational Saturday at Riley Pool. The Scots lost to Ottawa University, 15-5 in the morning before falling to Chapman, 12-5. The tournament continues Sunday.

In the first match of the Macalester Invitational, the Scots ran into a strong defensive team in Ottawa, which competes at the NAIA level. A pair of goals by senior Riley Waters (Portland, Oregon/St. Mary's Academy) gave Macalester a 2-1 lead midway through the first quarter. The Spirit tallied two more goals in the first quarter and two goals in the second quarter, sandwiched around a goal by sophomore Gabriela Weiner (Chicago, Ill./Whitney M. Young Magnet), to lead, 6-3 at the half. From there it was all Ottawa, as the Spirit outscored the Scots, 9-2 in the second half. Waters finished with three goals, while sophomore goalkeeper Laurel O'Hare (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) made six saves.

Macalester opened the scoring against Chapman with a goal by junior Sydney Hollingsworth (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township). Chapman followed with seven consecutive goals to build a 7-1 advantage. The Scots answered with goals by first year Olivia Dimka (Denton, Texas/John H. Guyer), senior Annika Krueger (Emerald Hills, Calif./Sequoia) and junior Eleanor Michaud (Long Grove, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) to make the score 8-4 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Chapman put the game out of reach with four more goals to clinch the win. O'Hare had a solid game with 12 saves for the Scots.

Macalester wraps up the Invitational on Sunday with matches against Occidental at 11:45 a.m. and La Verne at 5:15 p.m.

MAC – 2 1 1 1 - 5
Ottawa – 3 3 6 3 - 15
Macalester goals: Waters 3, Weiner, Coney

MAC – 1 0 3 1 - 5
Chapman – 4 2 2 4 - 12
Macalester goals: Hollingsworth Dimka, Krueger, Michaud, Waters