Weekly Release #10
4/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Upcoming Schedule
Fri-Sun., April 29-30 -- at Eastern Championship (Providence, R.I.)
April 29 -- vs. Brown, Noon
April 29 -- Semifinal Round
April 30 -- Championship Round
Fri-Sun., May 12-14 -- at NCAA Championship (Davis, Calif.)
This Week
The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan women's water polo enters the Eastern Championship as the No. 2 seed for the second straight season. U-M will take on Brown in Game 3 of the Eastern Championship which will be hosted by Brown University at Smith Swim Center in Providence, R.I. Coming off of a 4-3 victory in the Western Division Championship final to capture the Division crown for the fifth straight season, the Wolverines look to reach the NCAA Championship for the second straight season. If Michigan wins the Eastern Championship, they earn the CWPA bid to the NCAA Championship in Davis, Calif. U-M will play either Maryland or Princeton in its second game of the Eastern Championship.
Eastern Championship Seeding/Schedule
No. 1 Seed -- Hartwick
No. 2 Seed -- MICHIGAN
No. 3 Seed -- Princeton
No. 4 Seed -- Indiana
No. 5 Seed -- Bucknell
No. 6 Seed -- Maryland
No. 7 Seed -- Brown
No. 8 Seed -- Harvard
Saturday, April 29
Game 1 -- Hartwick vs. Harvard, 9 a.m.
Game 2 -- Indiana vs. Bucknell, 10:30 a.m.
Game 3 -- Brown vs. MICHIGAN, 12 p.m.
Game 4 -- Princeton vs. Maryland, 1:30 p.m.
Game 5 -- Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 4 p.m.
Game 6 -- Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 5:30 p.m.
Game 7 -- Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 7 p.m.
Game 8 -- Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 30
Game 9 -- Loser of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 6, 9 a.m. (Seventh-Place Game)
Game 10 -- Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6, 10:30 a.m. (Fifth-Place Game)
Game 11 -- Loser of Game 7 vs. Loser of Game 8, 12 p.m. (Third-Place Game)
Game 12 -- Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8, 1:30 p.m. (First-Place Game)
Michigan All-Time at the Eastern Championship
The Wolverines are 13-3 all-time at the Eastern Championship, including winning the championship tournament last season. Michigan defeated Indiana in the final game in 2005, 8-7.
The Maize and Blue went 2-1 in 2001, falling to Brown in the first game. In 2002, Michigan won all four contests, including a 7-6 overtime victory over Hartwick to earn the program's first ever NCAA Championship bid. The Wolverines went 2-1 in both 2003 and 2004, losing to Brown in the semifinal in 2003 and falling to Hartwick in the finals of the 2004 championship. Last season, U-M defeated the Hoosiers in their own home pool, 8-7, to earn Matt Anderson's first career NCAA Championship visit.
Michigan is 2-1 all-time against Brown at the Eastern Championship. U-M lost the first two meetings in 2001 (7-4) and 2003 (5-4), but exacted revenge in 2004, defeating the Brown Bears 4-3 in the semifinal.
Live Scoring Updates This Weekend
Michigan's trio of games at the Eastern Championship will feature live scoring updates on U-M's athletics website, MGoBlue.com. The scores of all three games will be updated after each goal and at the end of each period and timeout.
Scouting the Opponent
Brown -- Brown Bears (14-16) took third place at the Northern Championship this past weekend. Michigan defeated Brown in both meetings this season. U-M downed the Bears 12-2 at the UC Santa Barbara Invitational (Feb. 26) and won in overtime, 14-9, at the Brown Mini on April 9. The Wolverines hold a 6-2 all-time record against Brown. Brown University on the Web: www.brownbears.com.
Maryland -- The Terrapins finished 18-12 this season with a 3-3 record in the CWPA South. Maryland fell to Princeton in the Southern Division Championship final this past weekend, but qualified for the Eastern Championship in an earlier win over Bucknell. Six of the Terrapins top eight leading scorers were freshmen. Elizabeth Hopkins (55 points) finished just ahead of Rachel Jordan (54 points) for the team scoring lead with Jordan leading the team in goals (44). The Wolverines have never faced the Terrapins in program history. Maryland on the Web: www.umterps.com.
Princeton -- The Tigers (19-5) come into the Eastern Championship as the winner of the Southern Division Championship after defeating Maryland in the finals. Princeton was led in the regular season by junior Elyse Colgan, who had 37 goals heading into this past weekend's Southern Division Championship. Michigan last faced Princeton in the 2005 Eastern Championships which the Wolverines won 8-3. The Wolverines are 6-2 all-time against the Tigers. Princeton on the Web: www.goprincetontigers.com.
National Collegiate Women's Top 20 Poll (4/19/06)
Rank, School Points 1. Southern Cal 100 2. UCLA 94 3. Stanford 92 4. Hawaii 84 5. LMU 80 6. California 76 7. UC Irvine 70 8. San Diego State 65 9. San Jose State 61 10. Long Beach State 54 11. Arizona State 49 12. Hartwick 45 13. UC Santa Barbara 41 14. UC Davis 37 15. UC San Diego 28 16. Indiana 25 17. MICHIGAN 20 18. Santa Clara 18 19. Cal State Northridge 11 20. Princeton 5
Wolverines Who Got Tricky So Far in 2006
The following is a list of the players and the number of hat tricks each earned in the regular season: Shana Welch 15, Megan Hausmann 6, Mary Chatigny 4, Kristin Hoogenboom 3, Julie Hyrne 3, Carrie Frost 2, Michelle Keeley 2, Kaitlin Prijatel 1, Carly Strub 1, Kate Zondervan 1, Nicole Santarosa 1, Kate Bizer 1, Sharayah Hernandez 1.
Plethora of Wolverines Nearing Career Milestones
Wesley Ellison: needs one goal for 50 in her career.
Mary Chatigny: needs one point for 50 in her career.
Megan Hausmann: needs four drawn ejections for 100 in her career.
Kaitlin Prijatel: needs two steals for 50 steals in her career.
Sharayah Hernandez: needs two points for 50 in her career.
Welch Nears All-Time Point Total
Junior captain Shana Welch (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming West Valley), who leads the Wolverines in goals (74) and points (97) this season, is three points shy of passing Sheetal Narsai (2002-05) as the program's all-time leading point scorer. Welch's 263 career points (213 g, 50 a) trail Narsai's 265. The junior captain also needs just four more assists this season to equal her assist total from the previous two seasons (27).
Welch is three points shy of 100 this season, which would give her the most points in a season in program history. Her 99 points as a sophomore last season is the current record.
Freshmen Lending a Helping Hand
Sharayah Hernandez (Pico Rivera, Calif./El Rancho) and Kristen Davis (Villa Park, Calif./Villa Park) have each tallied 29 assists this season to lead the Wolverines. Hernandez leads all field players while Davis' total is a single-season program record for a goalkeeper. Hernandez also has 19 goals to go along with her team-leading helper total and needs just four helpers to have the fifth-highest total in program history.
Davis Steals the Record
Goalkeeper Kristen Davis recorded one steal against Washington & Jefferson at the Western Division Championship to become the record holder for the most steals by a goalkeeper in Michigan water polo program history. Davis' 39 steals top Betsey Armstrong's (2002-05) total of 38 in 2002.
Wolverines Beat Indiana Again to Become Champions of the West
Michigan defeated Indiana this past weekend, 4-3, in the Western Division Championship final to capture its fifth straight Division title crown and its fourth straight final-game win over Indiana.
U-M opened the championship by putting up 16 goals on Washington & Jefferson. The Wolverines allowed one goal in the quarterfinal win. Michigan next downed Mercyhurst 19-5 to move into the finals. Michigan opened up a 2-0 lead with goals from Shana Welch and Julie Hyrne (Sunnyvale, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) in the first. IU cut the lead to 2-1 and that is how it ended after one period. Michigan scored again in the second on a tally from Kristin Hoogenboom (Portland, Ore./Sunset) out of two meters. The Hoosiers rallied back again to make the score 3-2 entering halftime. Michigan dodged two bullets to end the half, killing off two IU 6-on-5 opportunities before the buzzer.
Michigan earned two man-advantages to begin the third, but was unable to score on either. As the second chance expired, Sharayah Hernandez (Pico Rivera, Calif./El Rancho) was fouled to earn Michigan a four-meter penalty shot attempt that Megan Hausmann (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's) converted seconds later. Indiana came back and cut the lead to one midway through the third. The Hoosiers had a chance on their last offensive possession to tie the contest, but Kelsey Haley (Portola Valley, Calif./Menlo) and Carrie Frost (Saline, Mich./Saline) saved the day as they combined to steal the ball in the post to ice the championship victory.
Hausmann and Frost each forced four steals in the championship contest to tie for the team lead.
Did You Know
The Wolverines are 19 goals shy of scoring the most goals in a season in program history. U-M has buried 377 shots this season.
Michigan players need 13 points to tally the most points as a team in a season in school history. Maize and Blue players have put up 660 points this season on 377 scores and 284 assists. The Wolverines also need just nine helpers to break the school record for most assists in a season as a team.
Megan Hausmann moved into third place all-time in career assists after handing out three against Washington & Jefferson. She passed Jo Antonsen (2002-05), who had 85 in her career. After a four-assist weekend, the senior captain now has 88 career helpers.
Michigan's 36 points against Mercyhurst was one shy of tying the program record for points in a game that was set against the same opponent in 2003.
The Wolverines have tallied 41 shots in a game three times this season, which is the program record for attempts in a game.
U-M has recorded a program-record 25 steals in a game twice this season, including 25 against Washington & Jefferson this past weekend.
Three is Better than One
Shana Welch, Megan Hausmann and Lindsey Hitchcock (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) have been named the tri-captains for the Wolverines' 2006 season. All three players wear the honor for the first time in their Michigan careers.
The Anderson Files
Head coach Matt Anderson begins his fourth year as the leader of the University of Michigan water polo program. In his four years at Michigan, Anderson has brought a hard-nosed playing philosophy and a defensive intensity to the Wolverines that has led to a 108-44 record and a trifecta of CWPA Division titles since he arrived at U-M. In his first season as the head coach of Michigan water polo, Anderson led the program to a 22-10 record, a third-place finish at the Eastern Championships and its second straight Southern Division crown. In 2004, Anderson guided Michigan to a school-record 30 victories as well as setting records in points (665), assists (291) and goals against average (4.61). Anderson also coached U-M to its third consecutive CWPA Division Championship crown, earning CWPA Western Division Coach of the Year honors. Last season, Anderson led U-M to Western Division Championship and Eastern Championship titles and the program's first NCAA Championship win. He also was named Eastern Championship Coach of the Year in 2005.
On the Horizon...
If the Wolverines win the Eastern Championship this weekend, they would travel to the NCAA Championship (May 12-14) in Davis, Calif.
Contact: Matt Baumer (734) 763-4423
