The Varsity Blues women's water polo team traveled to Chicago for the second annual College Showcase tournament this past weekend (Oct. 27-28).
 
Sarah Wentling (Mohnton, Pennsylvania) led the Blues with eight goals, as they completed a very successful trip, winning three-of-four matches.
 
On Saturday, the Blues cruised to a pair of victories over NCAA club nationals bronze medalist University of Florida Gators and NCAA Division 3 perennial medal winner Carthage College Lady Reds.
 
Toronto 9, Florida 3
 
The Blues had a harrowing start to the tournament, arriving just five minutes before the scheduled game time for the historic first ever match versus the Gators.  However, the greatly abbreviated warm-up did not phase the team as it came out and took a 2-0 first quarter lead.  The Blues added another in the second period to lead 3-0 at half time. 
 
In the third, the Blues doubled their lead to 6-0.  Assistant captain and starting goalie Rachael Jaffe (Irvine, California) had an excellent game in goal, posting three quarters of shutout play before being lifted to start the fourth quarter to give playing time to backup Amber Masse (San Jose, California).  The teams then traded goals three times leaving the Blues with a 9-3 win. 
 
Emma Brezoczky (Los Gatos, California) led the attack with a hat trick, while Wentling added a pair.  Emily Kelvin-Davies (Maple Ridge, B.C.), Caitlyn Tiedje (Okotoks, Alberta), Rhianna Wood (Calgary,) and Emily Grossman (Sunnyvale, California) all scored once.
 
Toronto 14, Carthage 4
 
An hour after the game ended, Toronto was back in the pool to face Carthage and jumped on the Lady Reds to grab a 3-0 opening quarter advantage.  The Blues then doubled up the Lady Reds 4-2 in the second frame to take a 7-2 halftime lead.
 
The Blues then duplicated the halftime total to win 14-4.  Wentling led all scorers with four goals while Allie Vas (Yorba Linda, California) provided a hat trick.  Tiedje popped in a pair from the center and captain Megan MacCormac (Ottawa), Sara Sutherland (Regina), Katie Smith (Chestermere, Alberta),  Kelvin-Davies and Brezoczky all added singles.
 
Indiana 12, Toronto 3
 
An early Sunday morning start saw the Blues square off against NCAA  Division 1 Top 20 powerhouse Indiana.  The game was very physical and the Blues fell behind 2-0 after the opening quarter.  However, Toronto never stopped battling and surprised the Hoosiers by tying the second quarter 3-3 to still trail by a pair at the half. 

After that the team ran out of energy and Indiana stormed out to a 10-3 third quarter lead before settling for a 12-3 victory.  Kelvin-Davies, Tiedje and Wentling found the net for the Blues.
 
Toronto 7, Lindenwood 2
 
An hour later Toronto took on the Lindenwood University Lions and got off to a listless start, trailing 1-0 after one period.  The Blues then started to get things going on offence, outscoring the Lions 2-0 in the second frame to take a narrow 2-1 lead at the half. 
 
Jaffe and the Blues defence continued to shut out the Lions throughout the third quarter while the offence added a pair to give Toronto a 4-1 advantage heading into the final quarter.  A 3-1 effort provided for a 7-2 victory. 
 
Smith paced the attack with a pair of goals while Vas, Wentling, Wood, MacCormac and Brezoczky each tallied once.
 
The Blues go right back on the road this coming weekend for a series of NCWP games at the Queens Invitational.
 
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