Michigan
Southern Cal
Michigan Falls to USC, Rebounds to Edge Hartwick in OT
2/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Event: Cal-Santa Barbara Gaucho Invitational (Day 1)
Scores: #3 Southern Cal 18, #13 Michigan 7;
#13 Michigan 9, #15 Hartwick 8 (OT)
Records: U-M (5-5)
Next Event: Sunday, Feb. 24 -- vs. #11 Cal-Davis (11:30 a.m. PST), vs. #8 UCSB or #9 Cal-San Diego (3 or 4:10 p.m. PST) at Cal-Santa Barbara Invitational (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- The University of Michigan women's water polo team opened the first day of the UCSB Gaucho Invitational with a two-game split Saturday (Feb. 23) at the Rec Center Pool. The Wolverines dropped their morning game to No. 3 Southern Cal by a score of 18-7 but came back to defeat No. 15 Hartwick 9-8 in overtime as Stephanie Morse (Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS) scored the game-winner for the Wolverines.
Against the USC Women of Troy, Michigan fell behind early on account of a five-on-six goal just 55 seconds into the match followed by four more USC tallies. The Wolverines were unable to solve the Southern Cal defense until Rachel Burkons (Van Nuys, Calif./Harvard Westlake HS) found the back of the net with two minutes to play in the first quarter. Any momentum from the first U-M goal was swept away as a result of four more unanswered goals from Southern Cal. At the break, the Maize and Blue found itself in an 11-2 hole.
Michigan was only outscored 7-5 in the second half, but the damage had already been done. Casey Kerney (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park HS) capped off Michigan's scoring in the fourth quarter with her second marker of the contest.
The Wolverines returned to the pool in the afternoon for a rematch against Hartwick College, U-M defeated 6-5 last Saturday (Feb. 16) at the Princeton Invitational. The match was closely contested throughout, and U-M found itself up by one goal at the half. In the third period, the Hawks netted two goals to Michigan's one to tie the score at four going into the final stanza. Both teams played tough in the fourth quarter, netting two goals apiece to make the count 6-6 at the end of regulation.
In the extra sessions of play, the Wolverines edged Hartwick three goals to two to earn the 9-8 overtime win. U-M was led on offense by Mandi Hagedorn (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) and Sheetal Narsai (Commerce, Calif./Bell Gardens HS) with two goals each.
The Gaucho Invitational wraps up Sunday, and U-M will face No. 11 Cal-Davis at 11:30 a.m. PST and then play either No. 8 Cal-Santa Barbara or No. 9 Cal-San Diego for ninth (4:10 p.m.) or 11th (3 p.m.) place. Both games will be held at the Rec Center Pool.
GAME SUMMARIES
| Game 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Michigan | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Southern Cal | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 18 |
Scoring
Michigan Goals: Casey Kerney 2, Abbi Rowe, Delia Sonda, Sara Kowal, Chelsea Kay, Rachel Burkons. USC Goals: Aniko Pelle 4, Nina Wengst 3, Katay Kocsis 2, Jocelyn Mandarino 2, Suzannah Johnson, Sofia Konoukh, Melissa Madrid, Shelli Linza, Christy Decker, Sandra Milicev, Eden McMullan.
| Game 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | F |
| Michigan | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| Hartwick | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
Scoring
Michigan Goals: Sheetal Narsai 2, Mandi Hagedorn 2, Stephanie Morse, Casey Kerney, Jen Crisman, Maribeth Sitkowski, Meg Knudtsen. Hartwick Goals: Sheri Johnson, Ashleigh Jacobs, Colleen Santos, Alison Loveless, Megan Thompson, Vanessa Malik, Kate Chambers, Marcy Wright.
Contact: Matt Trevor, Paul Dickerson (734) 763-4423
