ROCK ISLAND -- The No. 4 seeded Augustana Vikings women's water polo team downed the No. 5 seeded Penn State Behrend Lions on Friday in the opening round of the CWPA Tournament.

Augustana out-scored Penn State Behrend 9-0 in the opening half, with five goals coming in the first eight minutes. Charlotte Newport began the contest with a successful penalty shot just 16 seconds in and was followed by a score from Mary King before a minute came off the clock. Ocean Akau and Newport added two more towards Augie's total before Emma Blezien connected on the final strike of the quarter with a power play goal with 22 seconds remaining. In the second, King earned her second tally of the evening before three different Vikings found the back of the net for the first time. Kiera Luhrs, Cindy King, and Maggie Caliendo accounted for the final three goals of the opening half to make it a 9-0 lead at the break.

In the third quarter, Waiahuli Akau extended the margin out to double figures for Augustana before the visitors got on the board with 4:28 showing on the clock. The two teams traded scores over the course of the next four minutes, but Sophie Arceneaux's goal with 33 seconds to go gave the Vikings the slight advantage in the frame. Augie put up its second five-goal period in the fourth, seeing tallies from five different players to complete the 17-4 victory.

A total of 13 players were responsible for Augustana's 17 goals, with Akau, Newport, and King all collecting multi-goal performances. Lizzie Pelzman and Susan Palmentera-Reid combined for 17 saves in split time in net. The victory was also the 200th career win for head coach Ryan Pryor.

With the win, the Vikings improve to 13-8 on the season and will take on either No. 5 Austin or Connecticut College tomorrow afternoon in the semifinals.