Michigan Finishes in Seventh Place at Collegiate Cup
11/11/2018 5:27:00 PM | Water Polo
» Michigan placed seventh at the Collegiate Cup with a 2-3 record.
» Both games on Sunday went to a shootout.
» Kim Johnson scored six goals in a shootout loss to California
Site:Irvine, Calif.
Event: USA Water Polo Collegiate Cup (exhibition)
Scores: Cal 12, Michigan 12 (Cal won shootout, 4-2); Michigan 9, Pacific 9 (U-M won shootout, 4-3)
Next U-M Event: Sat-Sun., Jan. 19-20 -- UCSB Invitational (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
IRVINE, Calif. -- The University of Michigan water polo team earned seventh place at the USA Water Polo Collegiate Cup after finishing the weekend with two wins and three losses in the exhibition tournament.
Michigan played two games on Sunday and both came down to shootouts to decide the winner. The Wolverines topped Pacific in the seventh-place game by a count of 4-3 in the shootout after tying in regulation at 9. Earlier in the day, the Wolverines tied Cal 12-12 but ultimately fell in a shootout by a count of 4-2.
Senior Julia Sellers led the team with 10 goals on the weekend, scoring in all five games. Senior Kim Johnson recorded nine goals with six of those coming against Cal. Junior Skyler Pyle tallied eight goals as U-M's next highest contributor.
Game 1: California 12, Michigan 12 (Cal won shootout, 4-2)
Michigan and Cal put on a show in the first game of the day for both teams. It was a back-and-forth battle that came down to a shootout, based on the USA Water Polo rules used during the weekend.
In the shootout, both teams converted the first two rounds of shots, but a pair of misses by the Wolverines and two more makes for Cal led to a 4-2 shootout win for the Golden Bears.
Cal forced the shootout with a game-tying goal with just 15 seconds remaining in the game. Pyle gave Michigan the lead with 1:41 left to go after the score was tied at 11 for over four minutes in the fourth quarter.
Michigan led after each of the first three quarters. The Wolverines built a 3-1 lead in the first and maintained a 7-5 advantage at the half. Cal cut the lead in half during the third quarter, trailing 10-9 with eight minutes to go.
Johnson played a big role in the success for the Wolverines with six goals in the contest. She scored in each quarter and had two in both the second and third periods. Sellers finished with four goals with a hat trick during regulation and a successful attempt in the second round of the penalty shootout. Junior Maddy Steere also made her shootout attempt and Pyle added two goals in the game.
U-M Goals: Johnson 6, Sellers 4, Pyle 2, Rogers, Steere
Game 2: Michigan 9, Pacific 9 (U-M won shootout, 4-3)
Michigan found itself involved in another shootout scenario in the seventh-place game against Pacific.
The two teams finished regulation tied at 9, and this time the Wolverines came out on top. The Tigers missed their second attempt and junior U-M goalkeeper Heidi Ritner came up with a big save on their third attempt. The fifth and final shooter, freshman Ava Morrant, had a chance to seal the victory and did so by sending it in.
The trio of upperclassmen, Johnson, Pyle and Sellers continued to provide a big lift for the Wolverines. Sellers led the way with a hat trick during regulation while Johnson and Pyle each scored twice. Pyle also converted her shootout attempt along with sophomores Sofie Pontré and Maddie O'Reilly.
The two teams were tied at 2 after the first quarter, but Michigan used a three-goal run to build a 5-2 halftime lead. The third quarter was high scoring, with Pacific holding a 4-3 edge in the seven-goal period. The Tigers then scored the first two of the fourth quarter to tie the score at 8.
Johnson gave the Wolverines a 9-8 lead with a goal at the 5:53 mark. Pacific tied it up with 3:45 to go and the two teams would go scoreless the rest of the way.
U-M Goals: Pyle 3, Sellers 3, Johnson 2, Morrant, O'Reilly, Pontré, Rogers, Steere
The Wolverines will return to eight-hour weeks for practice once they return to campus. U-M will open the 2019 season on Jan. 19-20 at the UCSB Invitational in Santa Barbara, California.
