U-M Tops Cal State Fullerton, No. 13 UC Santa Barbara at Barbara Kalbus Invitational

Saturday, February 24

Irvine, Calif.

8:00 AM PT

Michigan

10-6

Cal State Fullerton

4-6

Cal State Fullerton

Michigan

Kata Utassy (Michigan Photography)

U-M Tops Cal State Fullerton, No. 13 UC Santa Barbara at Barbara Kalbus Invitational

2/24/2024 11:59:00 PM | Water Polo

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 PDF Boxscore (Cal State Fullerton)PDF Boxscore (UC Santa Barbara)

By: Alex Whisnant

Site: Irvine, Calif. (Anteater Aquatics Complex)
Event: Barbara Kalbus Invitational (Day 2 of 3)
Score: #8 Michigan 14, Cal State Fullerton 4; #8 Michigan 8, #13 UC Santa Barbara 5
Records: U-M (11-6), CSF (4-7), UCSB (5-8)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Feb. 25 -- vs. #7 Arizona State - Barbara Kalbus Invitational, Day 3 (Irvine, Calif.), 1 p.m. PST

IRVINE, Calif. -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan water polo team got back on the right track on Saturday (Feb. 24) at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational, picking up wins against Cal State Fullerton 14-4 and No. 13-ranked UC Santa Barbara 8-5 at the Anteater Aquatics Complex.

Libby Alsemgeest led all scorers against Cal State Fullerton with four goals, the second time she has scored four in 2024. Kata Utassy played the role of distributor, dishing out four assists. Rounding out the multi-goal scorers were Kaia Levenfeld and Elise Walker, who tallied two goals each. Michigan's defense shined in the 10-goal win, allowing one goal in the first half to give the Wolverines (11-6) a comfortable cushion.

Alsemgeest got off to a hot start in the first quarter, scoring twice within the opening minute, and Jillian Schlom scored on a feed from Utassy to put Michigan up 3-0 less than two minutes into the game. Cal State Fullerton found its first goal of the game at 4:42, but that score only fueled the Michigan offense which ripped off a 7-0 run over the remaining quarter-plus to put Michigan in a commanding position, 10-1, at the halftime whistle. Five different Wolverines found the back of the net, paced by Alsemgeest and Walker, who accounted for four of those goals during the run.

The third quarter was a defensive battle with the first goal coming at 2:28 in the frame as the Titans notched their second score of the contest to make it 10-2. Michigan put together another 3-0 run that extended into the fourth quarter as Levenfeld, Jordan Schneider and Brooke Ingram all put one past the goalie to extend the Maize and Blue lead to 13-2 with 6:12 to go in the game.

Cal State Fullerton scored twice before reigning CWPA Freshman of the Week Emma Gustafsson scored her first goal of the day to put an exclamation mark on a 14-4 win to open the second day of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational.

Defense was on display in game two, but Utassy scored four goals to lead all Wolverines with four points. Alison Lock was a critical piece, tallying three points (one goal, two assists). Goalie Alex Brown notched 12 saves, stopping more than 70 percent of the shots that were on target.

UC Santa Barbara opened the scoring at the 6:25 mark of the first quarter, taking advantage of a power-play opportunity to take a 1-0 lead. That advantage proved to be short-lived as Utassy buried a penalty chance 22 seconds later to tie the game at one. The Gauchos regained the lead briefly again before Lola Ciruli responded with her first goal of the day to knot the game at two. Michigan closed the first period with goals from Alsemgeest and Levenfeld to propel the Maize and Blue to a multi-goal edge, 4-2.

Both teams locked down defensively in the second quarter with one total goal being scored in the entire eight minutes. That goal was scored by UC Santa Barbara to cut the Wolverines' lead at halftime to one, 4-3.

The Gauchos took their turn tying the game, scoring with 4:01 remaining in the third quarter to even the score at four. U-M responded with a crucial 3-0 run, highlighted by two Utassy goals, that extended into the fourth quarter to establish some breathing room, 7-4, with 3:35 remaining in the game. UC Santa Barbara looked to make a comeback with a goal at 2:46 in the fourth, but Utassy's fourth and final goal of the game proved to be the decisive blow as Michigan secured the 8-5 win to move to 2-1 in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational and 2-0 against the Gauchos this season.

The Wolverines will wrap up the Barbara Kalbus Invitational on Sunday (Feb. 25) with a top-10 matchup against No. 7-ranked Arizona State at 1 p.m. PST.