Michigan
Indiana
Michigan Drops Division-Deciding Contest to Indiana
3/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Julie Hyrne (Sunnyvale, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) highlighted the Michigan offense with a hat trick as all of her markers came in the second period. The Wolverines generated the majority of the offensive chances in the game but hit five posts and missed many close-in opportunities in the defeat.
The Wolverines jumped to a 1-0 lead just 30 seconds in as Carly Strub (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) stole a pass and sent Shana Welch (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) in on a breakaway. Welch buried on her open shot to put Michigan up 1-0. The Hoosiers answered back with a shot out of two meters. Strub nearly put Michigan back up, but her chance rang off the post.
Janis Pardy gave Indiana the 2-1 lead with just over one minute remaining in the first on the man advantage. Welch had another good scoring opportunity just before the end of the period, but her shot from in close was blocked by Indiana goalkeeper Jackie Pyrz.
Michigan earned the first power-play chance of the period but could not connect. Hyrne finally tied the game for Michigan on a skip shot out of two meters minutes in. Hyrne scored again to give Michigan the 3-2 advantage with three minutes left in the second on the power play. Hyrne had a chance to complete the hat trick on a penalty shot, but her attempt was denied.
Indiana took advantage and tied the game on a backhand shot outside by Melissa Soria out of two meters. Hyrne then redeemed herself, connecting on a backhand despite a defender climbing on her back to put Michigan up 4-3 entering halftime.
Kristen Davis (Villa Park, Calif./Villa Park) blocked a close-in attempt to start the third to keep Michigan in front. However, Indiana was able to tie the game four minutes in out of two meters. Strub then hit the post yet again on Michigan's next offensive series.
Indiana took the lead for good a few minutes later as Janis Pardy scored on the 6-on-5. Welch nearly tied it with seconds remaining, but her attempt did not completely cross the goal line before Pyrz grabbed it.
Both teams hit the post to begin the fourth and Michigan got two power-play chances, but both man-advantage attempts just missed the net. A scoring-table error put time back on the clock and gave Indiana a second power-play chance with 2:54 left, which this time they connected on to go up by a game-deciding 6-4 margin.
Michigan had two glorious chances at the end of the contest, but Hyrne rang one off the post and Megan Hausmann (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's) just missed a wide-open net as the Wolverines went home with a 6-4 loss.
Michigan returns to the pool tomorrow (Saturday, March 18) for three matches at Canham Natatorium. U-M will face Cal Baptist at 8:30 a.m. and will immediately play Grove City at 9:30 a.m. The Wolverines then celebrate Senior Night as they take on No. 17 Cal State-Northridge at 7:30 p.m.
GAME SUMMARY
| By Periods | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Indiana | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Michigan | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Scoring
Indiana Goals: Janis Pardy 2, Brooke Zimmerman, Brittany Estrada, Melissa Soria, Kristen Zernicke. Michigan Goals: Julie Hyrne 3, Shana Welch 1. Ejections: IU 12, U-M 10.
N O T E S
Senior Megan Hausmann drew a career-high five ejections in tonight's game.
Junior Shana Welch extended her point streak to four games and has now scored at least one goal in each of the past four games. She has 11 goals and five helpers in the past four contests.
With a team-high three goals, all of which came in the second period, freshman Julie Hyrne earned her first career hat trick. Hyrne has now reached at least two goals six times this season. The hat trick also extended her scoring streak to four games. Over that four-game span, Hyrne has tallied seven goals and two assists.
Hyrne's three goals give Michigan a hat-trick scorer in three consecutive games and in 10 of the past 11 games.
Michigan fell to Indiana for the fourth time in six games against the Hoosiers after going 16-0-1 in the first 17. As a result, the Hoosiers clinched the regular season CWPA Western Division Championships. Michigan won the last meeting 8-7 in overtime to advance to the NCAA Championships.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Matt Anderson
On tonight's contest ... "We had great scoring chances. I am just flabbergasted. The amount of good shots we got was amazing. We should have scored 15 goals tonight. In the last offensive play for us there was no goalie in the cage and we missed. It's just unbelievable. Against a team like Indiana, in a rivalry game, you cannot miss chances like that. Then our scorers table had a major error that put time back on the clock, gave them an advantage, and they scored on a power play. So our home table made a major mistake. We missed a lot of shots and the home table made a major error that handed the game back to Indiana because it gave them a power play. We've to take responsibility because we are the home team and we have to have people who are competent in keeping the score and that didn't happen tonight."
On individual play ... "Julie Hyrne decided to shoot the ball aggressively and shoot to score. She had a phenomenal game. Shana Welch had a good game and everybody else was pretty cold when it came to shooting."
On the meaning of tonight's game ... "There was one game that we had to focus on because it was a league game, but all this game means is that Indiana will wear blue hats and we will wear white when we play for the conference championship. That is all it means."
Contact: Matt Baumer (734) 763-4423
