Michigan
San Diego State
Michigan Falls in Overtime, Takes 12th at Gaucho Invite
2/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- The No. 11 University of Michigan women's water polo team lost a 6-5 overtime decision to No. 10 San Diego State Sunday (Feb. 27) to take 12th place at the Gaucho Invitational. Sheetal Narsai (Commerce, Calif./Bell Gardens HS) posted her second hat trick of the season and Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) made 12 saves in net, but the Aztecs were able to recover from a 5-3 third-quarter deficit to send the game into overtime and scored the game-winner with 1:23 to play in the second extra session. The game was played at UC Santa Barbara's Campus Pool.
The Wolverines came out of the gates strong to take a 2-0 lead after one period of play. On Michigan's second possession of the game, Megan Hausmann (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS) drew an ejection on the Aztecs, resulting in a power play for U-M. Narsai found Wesley Ellison (Portola Valley, Calif./Palo Alto HS) with a crossing pass to the left post and Ellsion tipped in the ball for a 1-0 lead. Then with 1:12 to play in the quarter, Erin Brown (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS) drove to the left side of the SDSU net, drawing an ejection on her defender. With Brown left alone in front of the cage, Hausmann quickly found her with a pass for a goal to the left side of the net.
San Diego State answered back to tie the game with two straight goals to start the second period. With the score tied at 2-2, Hausmann drew a four-meter penalty on the Aztecs and Narsai converted on the attempt to regain the lead for U-M. Narsai then notched her second goal of the quarter with a backhand shot from two meters to make the score 4-2 with two minutes to play in the opening half. The Aztecs, however, came up with one more tally before the half, scoring on a shot by Monica DeRosier out of two meters to cut Michigan's lead to 4-3 after 14 minutes of play.
Michigan quickly reestablished its two-goal lead with Narsai's third marker of the game to start the third quarter. After Hausmann drew her third ejection of the game, the Wolverines worked the ball around the perimeter until Brown found Narsai in a seam in the middle of the SDSU defense. Narsai sent a shot to the left side to the net to make the score 5-3 with 6:18 to play in the third.
Michigan's defense held strong throughout most of the period, as Armstrong made saves on a pair of six-on-five opportunities, but San Diego State finally broke through with a power-play goal with just under two minutes to play in the third quarter to draw within one, 5-4, heading into the final period.
San Diego State quickly tied the score at 5-5 with 5:54 to play in the game. The Wolverines struggled to find their offense as the Aztec defense forced Michigan into numerous lob shots in the fourth quarter. With just over two minutes to play, the Wolverines were whistled for a four-meter penalty, giving San Diego State a chance to take its first lead of the game. On the attempt, however, the Aztecs mishandled the ball, resulting in a turnover. With the score still knotted at 5-5 at the buzzer, the teams prepared for overtime.
In the first overtime period, neither team was able to gain an advantage. San Diego State created the best scoring opportunity of the frame, drawing an ejection with 1:10 on the clock. The Michgian defense, however, was up to the task, killing the penalty and maintaining the 5-5 tie.
In the second extra session, San Diego State took a 6-5 lead on a backhand shot by Elana Cervantes. Cervantes set up at two meters and sent the shot to the right side of the net. Armstrong tipped the ball but it floated across the goal line for the score. Michigan attempted to answer the Aztec goal, but Narsai's shot in front of the net with less than one minute to play sailed high.
The Wolverines will travel to Honolulu to take on the University of Hawaii on Wednesday (March 2) at 4:30 p.m. HST. The match will be played at Hawaii's Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
GAME SUMMARY
| Score by Periods | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | OT | F |
| Michigan | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| San Diego State | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
Scoring
Michigan Goals: Sheetal Narsai 3, Wesley Ellison, Erin Brown. San Diego State Goals: Monica DeRosier 3, Elana Cervantes, Rachel Cerna, Sara Farris. Ejections: U-M 10, SDSU 5.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Matt Anderson
On getting an early lead ... "We played ball control and we did a nice job with it. We got the ball in the right people's hands and we controlled the game from the beginning. Against a top 10 team, we took control of the tempo early and that's why we controlled the tempo for most of the game."
On what caused the offensive problems in the second half ... "We had three wonderful scoring opportunities and we took the wrong shot. That's what it comes down to. When you have an open cage, you have to take the correct shot and we decided not to take the correct shot and that was the difference. When you have an open look, you have to put the ball away and we didn't do that."
On the overall tournamnet ... "When you look at it, we played four extremely tough teams. We had a one-goal loss, a two-goal loss, a three-goal loss and of course the three-goal win against some of the best teams in water polo. We had a good weekend in terms of our competitiveness. We wanted to and should've come out of here with at least one more win than we did and that's what's disappointing."
N O T E S
Sheetal Narsai notched her second hat trick of the season and now has eight hat tricks in her career.
Betsey Armstrong made 12 saves against the Aztecs to record 10 or more saves for the sixth time this season. Armstrong now has 58 games with 10 more more stops.
Contact: Paul Dickerson (734) 763-4423
