Michigan
Princeton
Michigan Claws Tigers in First Round of Eastern Championship
4/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Site: Cambridge, Mass. (Blodgett Pool)
Event: CWPA Eastern Championship (Quarterfinals)
Scores: #12 Michigan 12, Princeton 7
Record: U-M (31-8); Princeton (15-13)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, April 25 -- vs. Maryland at CWPA Eastern Championship Semifinal (Cambridge, Mass.), 5:30 p.m.
Game Summary | Notes & Quotes
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The No. 12-ranked University of Michigan water polo team used a nine-goal, second-half surge to earn a 12-7 victory over Princeton in the quarterfinals of the CWPA Eastern Championship on Friday afternoon (April 24) at Harvard's Blodgett Pool.
Sophomore Alison Mantel(Miami, Fla./Gulliver) tallied five points, including her third playmaker (three assists) of the season. Senior Sharayah Hernandez(Pico Rivera, Calif./El Rancho) also had a playmaker, while senior Carrie Frost(Saline, Mich./Saline), sophomore Lauren Orth(Poway, Calif./Poway) and freshman Meagan Cobb(Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville) each hit the back of the night twice in the game.
Senior/junior goalkeeper Brittany May(Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) made eight saves and swiped two steals in the cage, playing all but the final minute of the game. Orth had a team-high three steals and junior Leah Robertson(Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) drew three Princeton kickouts.
Both teams had their first two trips down the pool foiled by netminding. May had to move side-to-side on a one-time attempt just two minutes in the game. Despite the early surge of netminding, Princeton was able to strike first, converting just after a U-M penalty kill to go up by a 1-0 score midway through the frame. U-M's offense awoke inside the last two minutes as the Wolverines peppered in two fierce backhands from Frost and Cobb, respectively, from two meters to give the Maize and Blue a 2-1 advantage after one period.
Princeton leveled the score quickly, scoring under a minute into the second stanza. After the goal, a lull in scoring ensued, thanks in part to two big saves by May on perimeter shots from the Tigers. Inside the final two minutes and using a depleted shot clock, Orth sent a lob from seven meters out that floated into the back of the cage to give the Maize and Blue a 3-2 edge. Just five seconds passed before Princeton put the equalizer on the board with a power-play goal, and the 3-3 score carried over into the intermission.
The second half was all offense with 13 of the game's 19 goals coming in the final 16 minutes. After Robertson drew a five-meter penalty, Orth came in and sank it. The lead was once again short-lived as the Tigers got a five-meter toss of their own on the next trip down the pool, leaving the teams locked in a 4-4 tie. Michigan began to inch away a minute later when sophomore Keller Felt(La Jolla, Calif./La Jolla) guided a missile into the far corner with 6:26 left in the period. Senior Julie Hyrne(Sunnyvale, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) and Cobb then scored at three-minute intervals to up U-M's lead to three goals, 7-4.
The Tigers continued to claw their way back into the game, scoring off a shot that changed directions when it careened off of an outstretched arm in front of the cage. Michigan applied heavy pressure on its opponent, snapping off three shots and collecting two rebounds in an offensive series that culminated with a Robertson game-winning goal. Frost followed with a goal set up by two long passes from May and Hernandez. Princeton then scored on a power-play marker to make it a 10-6 game just past the halfway point of the period, but two quick goals from Mantel quickly put the game out of reach. In the final minute of the contest, both teams put another shot in the back of the net with sophomore Cara Reitz(Miami, Fla./Gulliver) scoring the final U-M marker.
Michigan will now face No. 3-seed Maryland on Saturday (April 25) at 5:30 p.m. in Blodgett Pool in the semifinal round of the CWPA Eastern Championship in Cambridge, Mass.
GAME SUMMARY
| By Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Princeton | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| Michigan | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 12 |
U-M Goals: Alison Mantel 2, Carrie Frost 2, Lauren Orth 2, Meagan Cobb 2, Leah Robertson, Julie Hyrne, Cara Reitz, Keller Felt.
Princeton Goals: Elizabeth Dilday, Lauren Brunner, Phoebe Champion, Sierra Schelegle, Audrey Zak, Kaitlin Poladain, Tanya Wilcox.
Saves: U-M 8 (Brittany May 8; Morgan Turner 0), Princeton 6 (Kristen Ward)
N O T E S
Michigan improves to 13-3 all-time and 5-1 at the CWPA Eastern Championship against Princeton.
The Wolverines earn their 31st victory of the season, making them the second-winningest team in program history. The 2008 squad's 34 wins are the most by a U-M team.
Sophomore Alison Mantel tallied the 100th goal of her career today. The historic score came in the 82nd game of her career, matching the fourth-fastest pace set by Julie Nisbet (2001-04).
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Matt Anderson
On the game... "Princeton came out with a nothing-to-lose attitude and they hit us hard, which I expected. We weathered some foul trouble in the first period; we had our second group go in and play very well and got the game under control. As a result, we went into the second half with no one in foul trouble. That was beneficial. Slowly, we just kept working how we wanted to and kept breaking through them. The game went like I expected in that it was going to come down to who came out in the second half and who was able to finish a bit better. We were able to do that."
U-M Senior Julie Hyrne
On the game... "I think the team played really well. I think we had some butterflies; we started off a little timid, but we opened it up in the second half. We hope that can carry over into tomorrow's game and into Sunday."
Contact: Ryan Sosin (734) 763-4423
