Michigan
Stanford
Michigan Falls to Stanford in First Final Four Appearance
5/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The University of Michigan women's water polo team fell to Stanford 13-3 in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship this afternoon (Saturday, May 11) at the McDonald's Swim Stadium. Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) made 16 saves for Michigan (25-12) but it was not enough to overcome a cold offense and Stanford's stalwart defense. Stanford Olympian Brenda Villa scored four goals to lead all scorers. Stephanie Rupp (Hemet, Calif./Hemet HS), Julie Nisbet (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS) and Jen Crisman (Hudsonville, Mich./Jenison HS) each scored once for the Wolverines.
Armstrong | |
At 5:37 of the second quarter, Stanford's Villa scored her second goal of the game as she was awarded a penalty shot at 4-meters. Another Cardinal goal at 3:59 put U-M down by six. A late Stanford goal with 37 seconds left in the half put the Maize and Blue down 7-0 at the break. Armstrong was the lone Michigan bright spot in the first half as she made seven first-half stops. The Michigan offense mustered only three shot attempts in the first half compared to Stanford's 14. U-M also drew just two kick-outs while Stanford garnered five KO's.
Villa added her third and fourth goals of the game at the 6:13 and 5:37 marks of the third stanza, stretching the Michigan deficit to nine. Michigan made two strong bids to light up the scoreboard during a 6-on-5 opportunity with five minutes left as Sheetal Narsai (Commerce, Calif./Bell Gardens HS) rang a shot off the post and Erin Brown's (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS) short-side attempt was saved by the Stanford goalie. Michigan put an end to the shutout bid on its next possession as Rupp fired a shot into the Cardinal net far side with 4:13 left in the third. The Cardinal responded a minute later to score its 10th goal of the contest. In the final minute of the third, Stanford scored two more times to put the score at 12-1 in favor of the Cardinal.
Crisman won her fourth sprint of the game to open the fourth quarter and the possession led to a goal by Nisbet, who converted on a spin move at the 2-meter mark at 6:45. The Wolverines added another marker at 5:29 as Brown fed Crisman from the right side of the net into 2-meters for a quick tip-in goal. Stanford pushed its lead back to double digits at 4:05 with the score 13-3. Michigan had a 6-on-5 opportunity late in the contest but turned the ball over, which ended the power play. Armstrong made three more saves to end the game.
The Wolverines will face Loyola Marymount, an 11-2 loser to UCLA in the other semifinal, in the third-place game Sunday (May 12) at 3:30 p.m. PDT prior to the 5 p.m. championship game between Stanford and UCLA. Michigan has an 0-2 series record against Loyola Marymount, including a 10-3 loss earlier this season (Feb. 21) in Los Angeles.
GAME SUMMARY
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Michigan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Stanford | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 13 |
Scoring
Michigan Goals: Stephanie Rupp, Julie Nisbet, Jen Crisman. Stanford Goals: Brenda Villa 4, Jeanine Jackson 2, Lauren Faust 2, Julie Gardner 2, Nicole Huszcz, Ellen Estes, Kate Pettit.
N O T E S
Betsey Armstrong recorded her fifth straight double-digit saves performance of the season. Armstrong totaled 16 saves in the contest, which was just two shy of her school-record 18-block performance in a triple sudden-death game against Indiana on April 27.
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Amber Drury-Pinto
On the game ... "I thought we got some nerves out. We were a little nervous coming into our first NCAA Championship. We did some good things out there. There is a clear reason why Stanford has been No. 1 for a good part of the season and we got to experience that firsthand. We have to learn from this game and get ready for the game tomorrow."
On Stanford's defense ... "They were playing a heavier defense than we were used to on the outside in terms of fouling and holding us a bit more. We were a little surprised by that, especially in the first quarter. I think we adjusted, but we made young mistakes and hopefully we will learn from them and play better tomorrow."
On Betsey Armstrong's performance ... "If you look at her last five games, Betsey has been the difference. Between the games at Easterns where she made penalty saves and the games today where she stopped point-blank shots we just cannot say enough good things about her. We are very thankful that we were able to get her to come to Michigan."
On tomorrow's third-place game ... "We want to come in here and play Michigan water polo and not just be happy to be here. We did not want to fall into that sort of cycle. We were a little bit nervous, but we got over that and did some good things near the end. I am very hopeful that we will get a good matchup tomorrow and we can come away with a win."
U-M Senior Utility Delia Sonda
On the game ... "We were really excited to be here and go against the No. 1 seed Stanford. I think people were nervous in the beginning and that showed in the scoring if you look at the quarters. We got better as the game went on. They are a really great team, just as we are, but Stanford capitalized on the little mistakes that we made. They are No. 2 in the country for a reason. I am really proud of our team for playing hard the whole game and trying to score, even at the end of the game."
On the second half ... "I think that fact that we had nothing to lose helped get us going. We tried to go for every steal and take every shot and that helped get us over the jitters."
On recovering for tomorrow's game ... "I am not at all worried about us bouncing back. We have played Loyola Marymount before and we believe that we can do better than before. We are bothered by this loss but I do not see us with our heads down. This loss will not have any effect on how we play tomorrow. I guarantee it."
Stanford Coach John Tanner
On the game ... "I was pleased with our crispness on offense. We moved the ball really well. We were quick and decisive. We put good pressure on them defensively. They were tougher than we anticipated, much more aggressive than the Brown team we played last year."
On being in the championship game ... "It's pretty exciting to be in the championship game. At the beginning, there were 60 teams and now there are two."
Stanford Driver Brenda Villa
On the tournament ... "We have taken the NCAAs one step at a time. Our coach told us that we couldn't play the championship game until Sunday. We have stayed in the moment."
On the possibility of facing UCLA again ... "We are ready regardless of the opponent. We started this all in October and now we are down to our final goal."
Contact: Matt Trevor, Paul Dickerson (734) 763-4423
