Now in their final season of club status, the Monmouth College women’s water polo club team opened their season with a 2-2 record at their own invitational last weekend.

     Monmouth came out strong in the opener, posting a 20-6 win over Augustana behind Erica McAloon’s six goals and Taylor Sutschek’s five scores. Julie Samuelson was solid in goal, stopping five of the seven shots she faced.

     An early deficit in the second game resulted in an 18-7 loss to Washington University. Samuelson and Morgan Bruess combined for a nine save effort while McAloon scored all but two of Monmouth’s goals as Monmouth wrapped up Day 1 with a 1-1 record.

     St. Louis University eked out a 13-7 win to open Sunday’s play. Four Monmouth players scored in the contest, led by McAloon’s four goals.

     Wrapping up the tournament against arch rival Knox, Monmouth came away with an 18-12 win to finish the weekend with a 2-2 mark. Nine different players scored for Monmouth as Samuelson and Bruess combined to stop 10 Knox shots.

     McAloon leads the team in scoring after the first weekend with 16 goals while Claire McGuire’s 18 steals is tops on the team.