Michigan
Brown
U-M Advances to Eastern Championship Final
4/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Site: Lewisburg, Pa. (Arthur D. Kinney Jr. Natatorium)
Event: Eastern Championship
Score: #7 Michigan 4, #20 Brown 3
Records: U-M (30-8), Brown (21-7)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, April 25 -- vs. Hartwick in Eastern Championship Title Game, 2:50 p.m. (Lewisburg, Pa.)
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The seventh-ranked and No. 1-seed University of Michigan water polo team withstood a two-goal fourth quarter by No. 20 Brown tonight (April 24) to advance to the Eastern Championship title game. The Wolverines held a 3-1 lead at halftime, but the fourth-seeded Bears twice drew within one score in the final period. Sophomore Megan Hausmann (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS) scored what proved to be the game-winning goal and junior Sheetal Narsai (Commerce, Calif./Bishop's HS) led the offense with a pair of tallies an assist. Junior goalkeeper Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) led the defense with 13 saves in the contest.
Michigan claimed an early advantage with a power-play goal from Shana Welch (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West HS) at the 2:31 mark of the first quarter. Erin Brown (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS) found Welch with a crossing pass on the left side of the cage for the score. Throughout the opening period, Michigan's defense gave Brown few open looks at the net, but the Bears finally tied the game at 1-1 with a marker at 0:35. Diana Livermore scored her first of three goals on a shot that was deflected on its way to the goal. With the deflection, Armstrong was unable to adjust to the shot and the teams were knotted at one goal apiece after the first quarter.
The Wolverines took control of the game in the second period, outscoring Brown 2-0 in the frame. Narsai gave U-M a 2-1 lead with lay-out lob from the hole set. Welch found Narsai with the shot-clock winding down and the junior sent the ball just past the outstretched had of Brown's goalkeeper. Then with 3:30 to go in the half, Welch earned a four-meter penalty on the Bears and Narsai converted on the attempt to put the Maize and Blue up 3-1 at the half.
Neither team was able to gain an advantage throughout the third period, but the Bears did have a number of opportunities to cut Michigan's lead to one. Brown earned two ejections in the third quarter, but each time the Michigan defense was up to the task. On Brown's second power play of the game, Michigan held the without a shot attempt through the first 11 seconds of the penalty until the third quarter ran out.
The fourth quarter started with U-M down one player due to the third quarter ejection. As the penalty expired, Armstrong blocked the Bears' attempt, but the rebound fell right in front of a Brown player in the hole set. However, the shot attempt sailed high and U-M preserved its 3-1 lead.
With 5:11 to play in the game, Brown drew to within one, 3-2. Just two minutes later, Hausmann answered for Michigan to reestablish the Wolverines' two-goal lead. Hausmann received a pass from Narsai in the two-meter spot and sent a lay-out shot to the left side of the cage. Brown again cut Michigan lead to one, 4-3 with 1:39 to play, but Michigan held on for the remainder of the game to seal the victory.
Michigan will play tomorrow (April 25) against No. 13 Hartwick in the Eastern Championship title game at 2:50 p.m. The winner of that game will represent the CWPA at the NCAA Final Four.
GAME SUMMARY
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Brown | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Michigan | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Scoring
Brown Goals: Diana Livermore 3. Michigan Goals: Sheetal Narsai 2, Shana Welch, Megan Hausmann. Ejections: Brown 3, Michigan 2.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Matt Anderson
On the game ... "The game went just like we wanted it to. We got up and just let our defense do the work. Yeah, they made a run at the end, but when you are going for a berth to the Final Four the whole key is that when you get up, you rely on your defense. Our defense has been there with us all year. That is what we did."
On if he was nervous when Brown pulled to within one goal ... "Not really. Their first goal was a field block. Otherwise we shut them out in the first half. If they were getting good looks I would have been nervous. What happened was they got a couple of goals that went in because they weren't getting good looks. I have so much confidence in our defense."
On Megan Hausmann's game-winning goal ... "At that point, I told her she had to go two-to-two. I told her that she was defending and that she had to go down and score for us. That is a girl that had no sub and she was guarding an outstanding two-meter set and shutting her down. Then I told her she had to score on the other end. That is the type of player she is. She just gave it her all and I knew if we got the ball to Hausmann, she was going to score."
On the championship game ... "It is going to be an exciting game. You have two teams that haven't played each other and both of them are worthy to be there. Indiana is worthy to be there. Hartwick won a one-goal game. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting game. That I know for sure."
Junior Driver Sheetal Narsai
On her offensive play ... "I was taking more of a set position because I was driving down the line. They have a couple of good guards on their team so we wanted to flush it out and try and post up on their other players. I think I was just a little quicker then they were down there."
On beating Brown ... "It felt good, but I am still a little shaky. Last year we were up and down until the second quarter and I thought we were controlling the game. This year, I had the same feeling and all of a sudden it was the fourth quarter and we were only winning by one goal. It feels good to be in the championship game."
Sophomore Defender Megan Hausmann
On the game ... "It feels really good. Especially last year against them, I wasn't 100 percent with my finger being hurt. I really didn't get to play very hard and I remember I got a couple of ejections in the first quarter, so it was good to be able to contribute to the team."
On her goal in the fourth quarter ... "They had been giving me the backhand the entire game and I kept missing the cage every time it was there. I just thought about and I remembered what Jenn (Durley) told me in practice about when I am not making my backhands to step out and roll out on my back instead. As soon as I got that ball, that was all I was thinking about."
On her expectations for the championship game ... "It is going to be tough. If we play Indiana, they are going to want to kill us. And if we play Hartwick, they have nothing to lose and they are going to bring everything to try and shock us. Either way it will be a really tough game, but hopefully we will be able to pull it out. We all want to make it to NCAA's this year."
N O T E S
With the victory, Michigan tallied its 30th win of the season. It is the most wins the Wolverines have earned in one year.
Betsey Armstrong notched the 51st game of her career with 10 or more saves with 13 stops against Brown tonight. Armstrong now has 19 games with 10 or more saves this year.
Contact: Paul Dickerson (734) 763-4423
