Michigan
Hawaii
U-M Comes from Behind to Split Final Games of Invite
1/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Canham Natatorium)
Event: Michigan Invitational (Day 2)
Results: #7 Hawaii 9, #15 Michigan 6; #15 Michigan 10, #20 Indiana 9
Records: U-M (1-2)
Next Event: Fri-Sat., Feb. 16-17 -- at Princeton Invitational (Princeton, N.J.)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 15-ranked University of Michigan women's water polo team wrapped up its opening weekend of play in the two-day Michigan Invitational on Sunday (Jan. 27) with a 9-6 loss to No. 7 Hawaii and a come-from-behind 10-9 victory against No. 20 Indiana.
U-M (1-2) could never quite get over the hump against No. 7-ranked Hawaii as it trailed by three goals only five minutes into the game and was never able to tie the game. Against the Hoosiers, Michigan twice erased a two-goal deficit to finally take the lead for good with 15 seconds left in the game.
The Wolverines were once again led by freshman Casey Kerney (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park HS), who had two tallies against Hawaii and a hat trick against Indiana for a grand total of 10 goals in the tournament. Stephanie Morse (Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS) and Meg Knudtsen (Los Altos, Calif./St. Francis HS) also had goals in both contests. Morse had one against the Rainbows and two against the Hoosiers. Knudtsen had one in each game.
Two goals from Hawaii's Beth Novick helped the Rainbows take a commanding 3-0 lead just five and a half minutes into the game. The Maize and Blue proved to be resilient as it received goals from freshmen Erin Brown (San Diego Calif./Bishop's HS) and Kerney late in the first quarter to cut the deficit to 3-2.
In the second quarter, each team scored two goals as both teams capitalized on prime scoring opportunities. UH had one of its goals come on a 6-on-5 power play, while Michigan struck on a penalty shot by Delia Sonda (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) and a well-executed power-play goal by Morse. At the half, Hawaii still held a one-goal lead, 5-4.
Hawaii clinched the game for all purposes in the third quarter as it re-established its three-goal lead by outscoring U-M 3-1 in the period. Michigan's lone goal came on a penalty shot from Kerney for her second goal of the contest.
In the final stanza, the Wolverines cut the lead to two goals with another penalty-shot goal, this time from Knudtsen, who placed the ball past the outstretched hands of the Hawaii goalkeeper. Hawaii responded, though, with a goal to cap the scoring with five minutes remaining to regain the final three-goal margin, 9-6.
In the second game of the day, Michigan took an early lead off a crafty lob shot by Kerney from the two-meter position. Indiana then responded with a three-goal surge over the next four minutes to open up its first two-goal lead of the game. The Wolverines closed out the first quarter with a late score to make the score 3-2 after the opening period. U-M then proceeded to outscore the Hoosiers in the second quarter 3-2 to knot the game 5-5 at intermission.
The Maize and Blue was finally able to regain the lead with 3:29 remaining in the third but once again Indiana answered with three tallies to end the quarter and take yet another two-goal lead. The Hoosiers had a chance to close out the game early in the fourth period with a two-man advantage. The Michigan defense came up big, however, and was able to kill both penalties.
Julie Nisbet (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS) brought the Wolverines to within one on a snipe from four meters out and Chelsea Kay (Laguna Hills, Calif./Laguna Hills HS) tied the game with a backhand shot in the two-meter slot. The game remained deadlocked until the final 14 seconds when Michigan found itself in a 6-on-5 situation. After rotating the ball around the pool, Morse found an opening and fired the ball into the lower left corner of the net for the game-winner.
The Wolverines have three weeks off until the Princeton Invitational (Feb. 16-17) in Princeton, N.J.
Game Summaries
| Game 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Hawaii | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| Michigan | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
Michigan Goals: Casey Kerney 2, Delia Sonda, Stephanie Morse, Meg Knudtsen, Erin Brown. Hawaii Goals: Beth Novick 4, Karin van Hoff 3, Erin Kocher, Jennifer Hodge.
| Game 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Indiana | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| Michigan | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
Michigan Goals: Casey Kerney 3, Stephanie Morse 2, Chelsea Kay, Julie Nisbet, Stephanie Rupp, Meg Knudtsen, Sara Kowal. Indiana Goals: Kristin Stanford 5, Krista Peterson 2, Molly Fonner, Jamie Marley.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Amber Drury-Pinto
On if today's games displayed her team's youth ... "I don't think it was so much our youth or lack of experience as it was our lack of cohesiveness. We just never put together our full game against Hawaii. By the end of the day we were finally able to start hitting on all cylinders as we did in the third and fourth quarters against Indiana."
On what the team will need to work on before it heads to the Princeton Invitational in three weeks ... "I think we need to get back to the fundamentals of the game: passing, catching, shooting. I think we took some important steps forward this weekend. We are the favorites in our conference and now we have to live up to that. I think the sky is the limit for us."
On what the come-from-behind win against Indiana does for the team ... "I think it's a big confidence-builder, especially because it was a come-from-behind win. Those are always big. Also, any game against Indiana is big because they're a good team and they're from the Big Ten. We will always have tight games against Indiana and they will continue to get better, but so will we. Hopefully, we will reach our potential and the games against them won't be so close in the future."
