Week #10: Wolverines to Begin Postseason at CWPA Championship
4/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
April 22, 2015
THIS WEEK
CWPA CHAMPIONSHIP (Tournament Central)
Friday, April 24 -- vs. Bucknell (Princeton, N.J.), 6 p.m.
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The No. 16-ranked University of Michigan water polo team (18-11, 8-1 CWPA) kicks off the postseason at the 2015 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championships this weekend at DeNunzio Pool in Princeton, New Jersey.
As the tournament's No. 2 seed, the Wolverines received a first-round bye and will open tournament play at 6 p.m. on Friday (April 26), facing the winner of the first-round game between No. 7 seed Bucknell and Connecticut College. Depending on the outcome, U-M will play at either 2:20 p.m. or 5:20 p.m. on Saturday (April 25). The championship game is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sunday (April 26).
The CWPA Eastern Championship winner earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Championship, scheduled for May 8-10 at Stanford University's Avery Aquatic Center in Palo Alto, California.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday, April 24
Game 1 -- No. 8 seed Mercyhurst vs. No. 9 seed George Washington, 10:30 a.m.
Game 2 -- No. 7 seed Bucknell vs. No. 10 seed Connecticut College, Noon
Game 3 -- No. 3 seed Indiana vs. No. 6 seed Brown, 1:30 p.m.
Game 4 -- No. 4 seed Harvard vs. No. 5 seed Hartwick, 3 p.m.
Game 5 -- No. 1 seed Princeton vs. Winner Game 1, 4:30 p.m.
Game 6 -- No. 2 seed Michigan vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 25
Game 7 -- Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 2, 1 p.m.
Game 8 -- Loser Game 6 vs. Loser Game 1, 2:20 p.m.
Game 9 -- Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 3, 3:50 p.m.
Game 10 -- Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 4, 5:20 p.m.
Game 11 -- Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 7, 6:40 p.m.
Game 12 -- Loser Game 4 vs. Winner Game 8, 8 p.m.
Sunday, April 26
Ninth Place -- Loser Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7, 9 a.m.
Seventh Place -- Loser Game 12 vs. Loser Game 11, 10:30 a.m.
Fifth Place -- Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 11, Noon
Third Place -- Loser Game 9 vs. Loser Game 10, 1:30 p.m.
First Place -- Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 9, 3 p.m.
SKIP SHOTS
• The Wolverines are seeking their sixth conference title in program history. U-M captured Eastern championships in 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Michigan is 34-10 all-time at the championship.
• Freshman Caroline Anderson led the Wolverines with eight goals in U-M's CWPA league weekend (April 18-19) at Indiana, tallying four goals in the regular-season finale against Bucknell and three against Gannon. Anderson also boasted five assists over the weekend, tallying two apiece in U-M's games against Gannon and Bucknell.
• Anderson has already tied the Wolverine single-season record with 50 assists this year, sharing the spot with Alison Mantel (2010). With 45 goals, she has also climbed to third among U-M's leaders in goals by a freshman -- just 10 shy of leader Shana Welch (55, 2004). She already boasts Michigan's program record for points by a freshman with 95.
• A week after a breakthrough performance in U-M's league games at Princeton, freshman Laura Jimenez did even better last weekend at Indiana with six goals, five assists and three steals over three games. She boasted a career-best five goals against Gannon. She tallied six goals, including four against George Washington, with three assists and two steals the previous weekend. Jimenez owns 17 goals this season -- more than half have come over the last two weekends of play.
• The Wolverines own 33 hat-trick efforts this year. Anderson, who posted a career-best five goals against George Washington and two hat tricks over three games last weekend, leads the team with nine hat tricks this season. Eleven different U-M players have recorded at least one hat trick this season.
• Junior Ali Thomason won every sprint over its CWPA league weekend at Princeton. She boasts a stellar 91-21 (.813) sprint record this season. U-M is 94-24 (.797) in total sprints. Earlier this season, Thomason went 5-for-7 in sprints in U-M's overtime win against Indiana (April 4), including a win in the pivotal final sprint in the sudden-death period.
• Thomason recorded a career-best six goals, including four in the first quarter, in U-M's sudden-death win over No. 13 Indiana. It was the most single-game goals for a Wolverine player since Kiki Golden similarly scored six against Iona in 2012. U-M's school record in the single-game category is eight goals, registered by Shana Welch against CSU Bakersfield in 2005. Thomason's previous best was four, which she posted twice during last season's CWPA Championship.
• Thomason also leads the Wolverine team with a career-high 49 goals this season. Her previous career best in the category is 37, which she recorded last season. She also boasts a career-best 30 assists, surpassing her 2014 total (23) two weeks ago at Princeton.
• Thomason is one of four Michigan players to match or surpass their career highs in both goals and assists this season. Senior Elizabeth Williams owns significant career highs with 30 goals and 20 assists; her previous bests were 15 goals and 10 helpers. Junior Kelly Martin (22 goals, 22 assists) and sophomore Jamie Nolan (18 goals, 14 assists) also boast new career highs in both categories.
• Junior goalie Julia Campbell earned CWPA Defensive Player of the Week accolades after posting 16 saves to just five goals allowed through 56 minutes of play last weekend in Bloomington. She tallied a weekend-high seven saves in the second half against Gannon. She also posted steal against Bucknell, upping her season total to 10.
• Campbell boasts owns three double-digit save performances this season. Her season and career best is 14, which she recorded against CSU Bakersfield.
• Michigan has posted a 103-for-217 (.474) conversion on 6-on-5 opportunities this season, including a stellar 7-for-9 against No. 10 Princeton two weeks ago. Conversely, the Wolverines have held their opposition to a 76-for-207 (.367) power-play conversion. The Wolverines also have converted 14-of-18 five-meter penalty chances.
• Senior Danielle Robinson scored the game-winner just 33 seconds into sudden-death overtime on Senior Day against Indiana, finding the net on a low skip shot to the nearside corner with the shot clock expiring. Robinson owns nine goals on the season -- all over the last 10 games.
• The Michigan/Indiana series has produced 21 one-goal games and one tie. The Wolverines snapped a five-game IU winning streak in the series with their overtime win last Saturday, April 4. The teams are 1-1 against each other this season.
• Robinson boasted five goals -- her first of the season -- over the Wolverines' appearance at the LMU Zumo Invitational, matching a career best with four goals against Brown. It was her highest single-game goal production as a Wolverine; Robinson tallied three four-goal games during her freshman season at Maryland.
• Anderson's five-assist effort against UC Davis (Feb. 8) was the most by Michigan player since Lauren Colton similarly recorded five assists against Wagner in 2010. She leads the Wolverines with 31 assists.
• The Wolverines boasted a season-high 18 steals against Hartwick at the Fluid Four. Thomason matched her career best with six steals in the contest. She also owns a pair of five-steal efforts this season, tallying five against UCSD and CSU East Bay. She previously tallied six steals last season against CSUEB.
• Michigan has faced nationally ranked ranked opposition in 18 of its 26 games. U-M has faced the No. 4, No. 5 (twice), No. 7, No. 10, No. 12, No. 13 (3x), No. 14, No. 15, No. 16 (twice), No. 17, No. 18 (twice) and No. 19, No. 20 teams. The Wolverines are 5-10 against ranked teams this season.
LAST TIME OUT
The Wolverines closed out their regular season with a perfect 3-0 record last weekend in Bloomington, Indiana, defeating Mercyhurst (16-2), Gannon (21-5) and Bucknell (13-4). Freshman Caroline Anderson paced the Wolverine offense with eight goals and five assists, while junior Ali Thomason and freshman Laura Jimenez posted seven and six tallies, respectively. Junior goalkeeper Julia Campbell earned the bulk of time in the U-M cage, compiling 16 saves to just five goals against. [ Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 ]
ON DECK
Fri-Sun., May 8-10 -- at NCAA Championship (Palo Alto, Calif.)
