Michigan
Cal State Northridge
Michigan Advances to Triton Invitational Semifinal
2/9/2019 10:54:00 PM | Water Polo
» Wolverines defeated No. 21 Cal State Northridge and No. 9 Arizona State to advance to the Triton Invitational semifinal against No. 1 USC.
» Michigan earned its second top-10 victory of the season.
» U-M held two ranked opponents to five goals in both games Saturday.
Site: La Jolla, Calif. (Canyonview Pool)
Event: Triton Invitational (Day 2 of 3)
Scores: #8 Michigan 14, #21 CSUN 5; #8 Michigan 6, #9 Arizona State 5
Records: U-M (5-4), CSUN (1-4), ASU (6-3)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Feb. 10 -- vs. No. 1 USC - Triton Invitational (La Jolla, Calif.), 11:10 a.m. PST
• Boxscores: Cal State Northridge | Arizona State
• Photo Galleries: Cal State Northridge | Arizona State
LA JOLLA, Calif. -- With a pair of wins over ranked opponents, the No. 8-ranked University of Michigan water polo team advanced to the semifinals of the Triton Invitational on Saturday (Feb. 9).
The Wolverines had a great day defensively, holding both opponents to only five goals. U-M had a balanced scoring attack in a 14-5 win over No. 21 Cal State Northridge to start the day, then came through with a gritty 6-5 victory over No. 9 Arizona State in the nightcap. The win advanced them on in the winners bracket to set up a matchup with No. 1 USC on Sunday.
Game 1: No. 8 Michigan 14, No. 21 Cal State Northridge 5
Michigan came out strong out of the gate and blitzed CSUN with a 7-0 run over the first 12:24. U-M had a solid defensive game plan at the start of each half as the Matadors failed to score a goal in the first or third quarters.
The offense for U-M was a spread out attack that saw 10 different players score goals. Sophomore Emily Ritner came off the bench to lead the team with a career-high three goals to go with one assist.
Another sophomore had a strong game for the Wolverines as Maddie O'Reilly notched two goals, one assist and a career-high three steals.
CSUN struggled throughout the game to keep Michigan's offense at bay. The Wolverines drew 11 exclusions and converted seven of those into goals. Senior Kim Johnson and freshman Erin Neustrom were forces on offense. Johnson drew six exclusions and Neustrom five.
Junior goalkeeper Heidi Ritner helped the defense to two shutout quarters and allowed only two goals in her 24 minutes in the cage. She made four saves and had one steal in the win.
Game 2: No. 8 Michigan 6, No. 9 Arizona State 5
Michigan came into its second game of the day hoping for a top-10 win for the second straight weekend after they won 11-9 against No. 8 Pacific at the Stanford Invitational last Sunday.
The Wolverines got off to a good start in meeting that goal, taking a 3-1 lead on Arizona State after one quarter. Kim Johnson started the scoring for Michigan with a goal at the 7:01 mark, but the Sun Devils found the equalizer less than three minutes later to tie the game at 1. Back-to-back goals by freshman Abby Andrews (2:56) and junior Maddy Steere (2:08) put U-M ahead by two.
The two teams traded goals in the second and third quarters with each team scoring twice in the second and once in the third. Michigan took a 6-4 lead into the final period.
Arizona State cut the lead to one goal with 5:12 left in the game, but goalkeeper Heidi Ritner and the Wolverines defense came up big the rest of the way to keep the Sun Devils off the board and hold on for the one-goal victory. Ritner would finish the game with four saves
Andrews ended up having a big game for Michigan with two goals, two assists, three steals and a field block. Steere also scored twice, while Julia Sellers fired one in for the team's final goal of the contest in the third quarter.
The Wolverines will face off against No. 1 USC in the semifinals Sunday (Feb. 10) at 11:10 a.m. PST at Triton Pool. It will be a rematch of Michigan's season opener, a 9-2 Trojan victory on Jan. 19.
