Michigan
California Baptist
Michigan Defeats Cal Baptist, Falls to No. 4 SDSU
3/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Site: Tempe, Ariz. (Mona Plummer Aquatic Center)
Event: ASU Invitational
Score: #18 Michigan 7, California Baptist 5; #4 San Diego State 13, #18 Michigan 5
Records: U-M (20-10), Cal Baptist (14-6)
Next U-M Event: Saturday-Sunday, March 31-1 -- in ASU Invitational (Tempe, Ariz.)
TEMPE, Ariz -- The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan womens water polo team defeated Cal Baptist and fell to No. 4-ranked San Diego State Saturday (March 31) on day one of the ASU Invitational, hosted at Arizona States Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
Senior Shana Welch (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) netted a hat trick in a 7-5 win over Cal Baptist in the morning contest, helping Michigan overcome a 12-4 deficit in power-play opportunities. In the second game of the day, Michigan jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but ran out of gas in a 13-5 loss to the fourth-ranked Aztecs. Sophomore goalkeeper Kristen Davis (Villa Park, Calif./Villa Park) performed well, knocking away 18 shots on the day. As a result of the 1-1 day, Michigan advances to the championship round and will face host Arizona State tomorrow (Sunday, April 1) at 9:10 a.m.
Against Cal Baptist, Welch opened up a 1-0 U-M lead on the power play for the only tally in the first period. Sophomore Julie Hyrne (Sunnyvale, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) fed her left of the goal and Welch buried the shot short side. After CBU tied the contest halfway through the second period, Michigan answered with three straight tallies, including two from Welch, who finished her first-half hat trick. Freshman Terri Bukofzer (Vernon Hills, Ill./Stevenson) earned the other on a nice individual play when she stole the ball from the goalkeeper in front and tapped a shot home. The Lancers scored late to cut Michigans lead to 4-2 heading into halftime.
Sophomore Sharayah Hernandez (Pico River, Calif./El Rancho) answered an early Cal Baptist goal to start the second half. Hernandez received a pass in front from sophomore Carrie Frost (Saline, Mich./Saline) and one-timed the pass into the cage, extending the lead back to two goals, 5-3. The lead quickly evaporated, however, as the Lancers scored twice in the final three minutes to knot it up at 5-5 entering the final period of play.
The Wolverines were not to be denied though and Hyrne gave Michigan the lead for good on a penalty-shot conversion three minutes into the final frame; Hernandez drew the five-meter opportunity. Davis and Michigan's defense killed off three CBU power-play chances in the fourth on the way to shutting out the Lancers in the fourth. With two minutes remaining, Frost put the game away on the counterattack to give Michigan the impressive 7-5 victory.
Against San Diego State, the Wolverines stormed to a 2-0 lead and controlled play throughout the opening quarter. Welch fed senior Wesley Ellison (Portola Valley, Calif./Palo Alto) for a goal out of two meters on the first possession of the game. Minutes later, Hernandez scored on a breakaway pass from Davis. However, the Wolverines began to feel the ill effects of a short rest in between games as the Aztecs netted the next nine goals of the game to build a 9-2 lead midway through the third.
Michigan bounced back as Hyrne scored from long range and Welch followed her on a breakaway lob to cut SDSUs lead to 9-4 at the end of the third. Following three more Aztec scores, sophomore Carrie Stover (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) took advantage of a goalkeeper ejection to earn Michigans final score with 25 seconds remaining. SDSU added one more goal at the buzzer and the Wolverines fell, 12-5.
Michigan returns to the pool Sunday (April 1) for the championship round of the ASU Invitational, held at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center. The Wolverines will be the second seed out of bracket A and will face No. 11-ranked Arizona State at 9:10 a.m. PDT. A U-M loss will place them in the third-place game (12:45 p.m. PDT) against the loser of the San Diego State and UC Santa Barbara contest, while a win will place them in the championship game (1:45 p.m.) against the winner of SDSU and UCSB.
GAME SUMMARIES
| Game 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Cal Baptist | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| Michigan | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
Scoring
U-M Goals: Shana Welch 3, Terri Bukofzer, Carrie Frost, Julie Hyrne, Sharayah Hernandez. CBU: Cheryl Ogden, Corrie Stuursma, Whitney Shaw, Stephanie Glenndenninng, Chelsea Gentry. Goalkeeper: Kristen Davis (8 saves, 1 assist). Ejections: U-M 12, CBU 4.
| Game 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Michigan | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| San Diego State | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
Scoring
U-M Goals: Julie Hyrne, Shana Welch, Carrie Stover, Wesley Ellison, Sharayah Hernandez. SDSU: Anna Gonzales 3, Jenna Schuster 3, Becca Ur 2, Erinn Greenwood 2, Stacy Werner, Elana Cervantes, Jamie Vessey. U-M Goalkeeper: Kristen Davis (10 saves). Ejections: U-M 8, SDSU 5.
Contact: Matt Baumer (734) 763-4423
