Michigan
Bucknell
Michigan's Hopes of Final Four Repeat Ended by Brown
4/26/2003 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Event: Eastern Championship
Score: #9 Michigan 14, Bucknell 2; #17 Brown 5, #9 Michigan 4
Records: U-M (21-10)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, April 27 -- vs. Princeton at Eastern Championship Third-Place Game (Boston, Mass.), 1:40 p.m.
BOSTON, Mass. -- The No. 9-ranked University of Michigan women's water polo team opened the 2003 Eastern Championship today (Saturday, April 26) with a 14-2 victory over Bucknell but fell 5-4 in the semifinal contest against No. 17 Brown. Michigan (21-10) had a chance to tie the game against Brown on its final possession, but the Wolverines' shot hit the crossbar and floated along the goal line before being pushed out.
Sheetal Narsai (Commerce, Calif./Bell Gardens HS) broke the Michigan season steals record with a pair of steals against Bucknell and two more against Brown to push her season total to 50. Casey Kerney (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park HS) led U-M with four goals on the day, two in each game. Jo Antonsen (Agoura Hills, Calif./Agoura HS) recorded her third career hat trick against Bucknell, and goalkeeper Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) made 11 saves against the Bison and five against Brown.
In the opening game against Bucknell, Michigan got off to a quick start to take a 5-1 lead after the first quarter. The Wolverines opened the scoring with a goal from Julie Nisbet (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS). Nisbet received a pass from Casey Kerney (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park HS) in the post and deposited the ball in the left side of the net. Antonsen put the Wolverines up two with a goal at 5:06 as the shot clock was running down, and Erin Brown (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS) completed the three-goal run with a fast-break marker. The goal was assisted by Narsai, who received a deep pass up the left side and then centered the ball to Brown. Bucknell got on the board with 2:25 left in the period, but Michigan answered 16 seconds later with a goal from Stephanie Rupp (Hemet, Calif./Hemet HS). In the final possession of the period Michigan was awarded a power play and Kerney scored U-M's fifth goal of the quarter.
The scoring slowed in the second quarter as neither team was able to manage many scoring opportunities. The lone goal in the period came from Meg Knudtsen (Los Altos, Calif./St. Francis HS) with 3:17 left on the clock, giving Michigan a 6-1 halftime lead.
Michigan continued to dominate in the third quarter, increasing its lead to 12-1 by the end of the period. Kerney scored her second goal of the game at the 5:39 mark. Kerney drove through the middle of the pool and received a pass from Nisbet, which she tipped in the right side of the net. Antonsen put Michigan up seven with 3:50 to go in the period and Megan Hausmann (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS) scored back-to-back goals to make the score 10-1. Antonsen completed her hat trick with just under a minute in the period with a give-and-go score from Narsai. Melissa Goldberg (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis HS) closed out the period with a marker in the final seconds to put the Wolverines up 12-1 going into the fourth quarter.
Rachel Burkons (Van Nuys, Calif./Harvard Westlake HS) started the scoring in the fourth period with her goal just less than a minute into the quarter. Burkons received a pass right in front of the cage to put the Wolverines up 13-1. Bucknell created a one-on-one fast break with Armstrong midway through the period, but the Michigan goalkeeper was up to the challenge, stopping the attempt. The Bison, however, scored their second goal of the game with 1:11 to play to make the score 13-2. U-M closed out the game with a final marker from Emily Pelino (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS).
In the semifinal contest against Brown, Michigan created the first scoring opportunity, drawing a kick-out in transition at the 4:38 mark. The Wolverines passed the ball into Nisbet for a tip-shot, but Brown's goalkeeper made the stop. One minute later, Brown was awarded its first power play of the game and capitalized just two seconds into the penalty to take a 1-0 lead. The Bears drew another ejection on their next possession, but a steal by Kerney prevented any scoring opportunity. The teams played even for the remainder of the period until Brown was given its third six-on-five of the quarter. Michigan's defense was up to the challenge as time ran out on the penalty and the score remained 1-0 after the first period.
Brown had another chance to increase its lead early in the second period when the ball entered two-meters for a backhand attempt. However, Armstrong deflected the ball out of bounds, keeping the score 1-0 at the five-minute mark of the second quarter. Two minutes later, Michigan was kicked out for the fourth time in the game, but on the ensuing possession the shot was wide. With 1:13 left in the half, Michigan drew even on a power-play goal from Kerney. Kerney received a pass on the left side of the net and beat the goalkeeper on the near side for the equalizer. At the half, the score was knotted at one.
The teams picked up the offense in the third quarter, scoring three goals each, but neither team gained more than a one-goal lead. Nisbet finally broke the halftime tie with a marker at 4:28 as time was running out on the shot clock to give Michigan its first lead of the game, 2-1. Brown, however, tied the game at two on its very next possession. The Wolverines answered by drawing an ejection with just over 4:30 to play in the quarter. Brown quickly found Hausmann for a tip-shot from two meters. Hausmann converted the attempt, regaining U-M's one-goal lead. Brown was able to tie the game again 1:37 later, making the score 3-3. With 1:45 remaining in the period, Kerney scored her second goal of the game to put Michigan up one, 4-3. However, as with Michigan's two other leads, Brown scored the equalizer, finding the back of the net off a deflected shot with just over one minute left on the clock. The score was tied at four heading into the final period.
For much of the fourth quarter the teams played to a standstill and the score remained tied at four midway through the period. Brown took a 5-4 lead and control of the game with a score on fast break with 4:22 left to play. Neither team was able to create another scoring chance until when the Wolverines drew a penalty on their last possession of the game. U-M's attempt was deflected by Brown's goalkeeper and floated on the line for a moment before being pushed away by the Brown defense as time ran out.
Michigan will close out its season by facing No. 14 Princeton in the third-place contest at the Eastern Championship tomorrow (Sunday, April 27) at 1:40 p.m. No. 13 Indiana will meet No. 17 Brown in the championship game at 2:50 p.m.
GAME SUMMARIES
| Game 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Bucknell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Michigan | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 14 |
Bucknell Goals: Cody Keller, Meg Blitzer. Michigan Goals: Jo Antonsen 3, Casey Kerney 2, Megan Hausmann 2, Erin Brown, Emily Pelino, Rachel Burkons, Julie Nisbet, Stephanie Rupp, Meg Knudtsen, Melissa Goldberg. Ejections: Bucknell 3, Michigan 2.
| Game 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Brown | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Michigan | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
Brown Goals: Jackie Parente 2, Diana Livermore, Tori Barbata, Sonia Lamel. Michigan Goals: Casey Kerney 2, Julie Nisbet, Megan Hausmann. Ejections: Brown 6, Michigan 5.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Matt Anderson
On the game ... "What people need to remember is that this Brown team went to the Final Four two years ago and it is the same core of players. What we had here today are the (East's) two most recent representatives in the Final Four having a battle. Brown possibly going to their second Final Four in three years does not surprise me, just like it will not surprise me if Michigan goes to its second Final Four in three years next year. We lost to a veteran team that had been there before. It came down to a a close shot at the end."
On the offensive struggles in the first half ... "We were a little tentative. Unfortunately we let them dictate and did not adjust like we should have. You have to give credit to them for making us play like they wanted in the first quarter. We just failed to stay aggressive like we normally do."
On the changes that led to the third-quarter offense ... "At that point it was 1-1 on the scoreboard so there was no problem with our defense. You just tell the kids that we do not score goals if we do not shoot the ball. We can go the rest of the game and stay at one goal if we do not shoot the ball, or we can start shooting it and the ball will go in. Unfortunately, we then let up a little on the defensive end, which should not have happened."
On what he told the team heading into the fourth quarter ... "I felt fine. I figured that if we did not win the game in regulation, it would have gone into overtime. That is what should have happened. We hit a bar on our final shot and it floated on the goal line. We were six inches from a game that we would have won. There is no question about that."
On the final play ... "There were three opportunities to shoot the ball and we took our third option, which was still a good option. I will take that shot again. We were half an inch away from it hitting the bar and going in rather than hitting the bar and bouncing out. We had three people with a shot and unfortunately we were unlucky."
N O T E S
Sheetal Narsai set the Michigan season steals record with 50 steals this year. She made two steals against Bucknell to set the record and then added two more steals against Brown. The previous record was 47 steals by Jen Crisman (2001-02) in 2002.
Jo Antonsen recorded her third hat trick of the season against Bucknell. It is the fourth hat trick of her career.
Betsey Armstrong made 11 saves against Bucknell to post her 17th game with 10 or more saves this season. Armstrong now has 31 career games with 10 or more saves.
Six of Brown's seven starters were on its 2001 Final Four team.
Contact: Paul Dickerson (734) 763-4423
