Michigan
Arizona State
Wolverines Sweep Michigan Invitational with Pair of Wins
1/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Canham Natatorium)
Event: Michigan Invite
Scores: #10 Michigan 8, #17 Arizona State 5; #10 Michigan 14, Marist 2;
#10 Michigan 19, Michigan State 7 (exhibition); #10 Michigan 16, Eastern Michigan 2 (exhibition)
Records: U-M (4-0)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Feb. 6 -- at UC Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, Calif.), 3 p.m. PST
Tournament Scoreboard
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The 10th-ranked University of Michigan women's water polo team completed its sweep of the Michigan Invite today (Sunday, Jan. 25) with an 8-5 victory over No. 17 Arizona State and a 14-2 win against Marist at Canham Natatorium. The Wolverines (4-0) also topped Michigan State by a score of 19-7 and Eastern Michigan 16-2 in exhibition games. U-M is now 4-0 for the first time in program history.
| | Welch's hat trick helped the Wolverines to an 8-5 victory over No. 17 Arizona State. |
In the 14-2 victory over Marist, U-M saw seven players tally their first goals while donning the Maize and Blue. Jamie Brown (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS), Amy Burgin (Livermore, Calif./San Ramon Valley HS), Wesley Ellison (Portola Valley, Calif./Palo Alto HS), Jenna Green (Atherton, Calif./Menlo HS), Ashley McCullum (Poway, Calif./Poway HS), Elise Spadavecchio (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River HS) and Sharon Warner (Ann Arbor, Mich./Saline HS) all scored their first career goals against Marist. Another milestone was set against the Red Foxes as Rachel Burkons (Van Nuys, Callif./Harvard Westlake HS) played in her 100th career game for the Wolverines. Burkons is the first Michigan player to reach the century mark in games played.
Against the Sun Devils, Michigan found itself in a hole early with ASU scoring just 32 seconds into the game. U-M answered, drawing a four-meter penalty with six minutes remaining in the quarter. Narsai converted for the Wolverines, knotting the score at one goal apiece. However, at 3:36 ASU regained the lead, leaving the Wolverines down one, 2-1, heading into the second period.
The Wolverines wasted no time gaining control of the game, scoring a pair of goals in the first minute of the second quarter. Megan Hausmann (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS) got things started with a marker at 6:49 that tied the game at 2-2. Welch then gave Michigan the lead with her first career goal. She received a pass up the left side from Casey Kerney (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park HS) and beat the ASU goalkeeper near-side for the score. Three minutes later, however, the Sun Devils scored on a penalty shot, making the score 3-3 at halftime.
The third period belonged to the Maize and Blue as it tallied two goals in the quarter to take a 5-3 lead heading into the final frame. Julie Nisbet (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS) drew a four-meter penalty, resulting in an Erin Brown (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS) goal with 4:52 remaining in the third. Brown's attempt was tipped by the ASU goalkeeper but still found the back of the net, making the score 4-3. Then with 23 seconds left in the quarter, Green connected with Welch on a give-and-go for Welch's second goal of the game.
ASU quickly drew within one, 5-4, with a marker in the first minute of the fourth quarter. One minute later the Michgan lead was back up to two goals after Narsai converted on her second four-meter shot of the game. Narsai sent a skip shot to the left side of the net for the goal.
Welch completed her hat trick with 3:07 to go in the game, giving Michigan a three-goal cushion, 7-4. Welch took a cross-pool pass from Narsai on the left side and slipped the ball inside the post. The Sun Devils cut the lead to 7-5 with 2:34 to play, but Nisbet scored with two minutes left to seal the 8-5 win.
In the game against Marist, Michigan jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead behind goals from Burkons and Burgin. The Red Foxes got on the board with 43 seconds remaining in the first quarter, but Michigan answered before the end of the period with a goal for Lindsey Hitchcock (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) to take a 3-1 lead into the second period.
U-M received a pair of goals from Kristin Hoogenboom (Portland, Ore./Sunset HS) and Jineane Shibuya (Honolulu, Hawaii/Mid-Pacific Institute) in the second quarter to take a 5-1 halftime lead.
The Wolverines went on a five-goal run to start the second half, making the score 10-1 with 58 seconds left in the third period. Marist notched one more goal at 0:34, but again Michigan answered before the end of the quarter. Spadavecchio's second goal of the game made the score 11-2.
Michigan went on to score three more goals in the fourth quarter, including a goal from Melissa Goldberg (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis HS) with six seconds left in the game.
The Wolverines wrapped up the Michigan Invite with exhibition games against Michigan State and Eastern Michigan. U-M defeated MSU 19-7 behind five goals from Green. The Wolverines then downed the Eagles 16-2. Welch scored six goals against EMU.
The Wolverines have a week off before traveling to Santa Clara, Calif., to face UC Santa Cruz on Feb. 6 at 3 p.m. PST. Michigan will then participate in the Stanford Invite on Feb. 7-8.
GAME SUMMARIES
| Game 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Arizona State | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Michigan | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
Scoring
ASU Goals: Katie Davis 2, Kimberlee Stevens 2, Elaine Bentley. Michigan Goals: Shana Welch 3, Sheetal Narsai 2, Erin Brown, Megan Hausmann, Julie Nisbet. Ejections: ASU 9, Michigan 3.
| Game 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Marist | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Michigan | 3 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 14 |
Scoring
Marist Goals: Jillian Jefferds, Joelle Evanousky. Michigan Goals: Elise Spadavecchio 2, Sharon Warner, Wesley Ellison, Lindsay Hitchcock, Erin Brown, Kristin Hoogenboom, Jenna Green , Rachel Burkons, Jamie Brown, Amy Burgin, Jineane Shibuya, Ashley McCullum, Melissa Goldberg. Ejections: Marist 3, Michigan 3.
| Game 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Michigan State | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Michigan | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 19 |
Scoring
MSU Goals: Carolyn Welch 3, Katie Clarin 2, Alicia DeMarco, Catherine Ochalek. Michigan Goals: Jenna Green 5, Rebecca Godek 2, Calre Peyrebrune 2, Shana Welch 2, Wesley Ellison, Casey Kerney, Sheetal Narsai, Kristin Hoogenboom, Rachel Burkons, Julie Nisbet, Jineana Shibuya, Melissa Goldberg. Ejections: MSU 3, Michigan 5.
| Game 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Eastern Michigan | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Michigan | 9 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 16 |
Scoring
EMU Goals: Bethany Lechtanski, Heather Karjala. Michigan Goals: Shana Welch 6, Wesley Ellison 3, Jenna Green 2, Jamie Brown 2, Amy Burgin 2, Ashley McCullum. Ejections: EMU 4, Michigan 1.
Contact: Paul Dickerson (734) 763-4423
