Michigan
La Verne
Wolverines Close California Trip with Redlands Mini Wins
3/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Event: Redlands Mini
Score: #13 Michigan 13, La Verne 3; #13 Michigan 9, Redlands 3
Records: U-M (6-8)
Next U-M Event: Sat-Sun., March 8-9 -- host Southern Division Tournament (Canham Natatorium)
REDLANDS, Calif. -- The No. 13-ranked University of Michigan women's water polo team swept its two games at the Redlands Mini today (Saturday, March 1). The Wolverines (6-8) defeated La Verne 13-3 in the morning game and earned a 9-3 victory over NCAA Division III defending national champion Redlands in the afternoon.
Julie Nisbet (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS) led the Wolverines with a hat trick against La Verne and Melissa Goldberg (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis HS) tied a school record with three assists. Against Redlands, Casey Kerney (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park HS) and Meg Knudtsen (Los Altos, Calif./St. Francis HS) each notched a hat trick and Erin Brown (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS) also tied a school record with three assists. The Wolverines stole the ball 13 times in each game and did not allow a single power-play goal in 14 attempts.
Michigan jumped all over La Verne in the first game by opening up a 4-0 lead just three minutes into the contest. Kerney and Delia Sonda (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) notched power-play goals at 5:41 and 5:01, and Nisbet then netted a score before Sonda added her second goal of the game. The Wolverines extended their lead to 5-0 on a marker by Emily Pelino (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) with 2:27 left in the second quarter. Michigan shut out the Leopards in the first half thanks to seven saves by Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS).
In the second half, U-M pumped in four more goals in both the third and fourth periods. Nisbet completed her hat trick in the fourth quarter. La Verne ended the shutout in the final quarter by scoring three times on Stephanie Bongiovi-Hogner (Miami, Fla./Palmetto HS).
In the afternoon game against Redlands the Wolverines took a 1-0 advantage midway through the opening period on Stephanie Rupp's (Hemet, Calif./Hemet HS) first of two goals in the game. Neither team was able to score through the rest of the period and Michigan held a 1-0 lead after the first quarter of play.
Redlands tied the score with 5:57 in the second quarter, but Rupp recaptured the one-goal lead for U-M with her second marker, at the 2:51 mark. Knudtsen also tallied her first goal in the second period, just 28 seconds before the half, and Michigan took a 3-1 lead into the locker room.
The Wolverines came out strong in the third quarter, taking a 4-1 lead on a goal from Kerney with 6:11 on the clock. On Michigan's next possession Nisbet tallied her lone goal of the game, and Kerney completed the period's scoring with her second marker of the game, giving Michigan a 6-1 lead heading into the final quarter.
Redlands closed the gap to 6-2 with 5:39 to go in the game, but Knudtsen answered for the Wolverines just 30 seconds later. Redlands scored its final goal with 3:55 on the clock, making the score 7-3. Michigan sealed the victory when Kerney and Knudtsen both completed their hat tricks in the final three minutes of the game.
Michigan returns home from the spring break trip to host the first weekend of divisional play on March 8-9 at Canham Natatorium.
GAME SUMMARIES
| Game 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Michigan | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
| La Verne | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Michigan Goals: Julie Nisbet 3, Delia Sonda 2, Erin Brown 2, Emily Pelino 2, Casey Kerney, Kristin Hoogenboom, Meg Knudtsen, Jineane Shibuya. La Verne Goals: Jen Brady 2, Jennifer Pachaco. Ejections: Michigan 5, La Verne 3.
| Game 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Michigan | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| Redlands | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Michigan Goals: Casey Kerney 3, Meg Knudtsen 3, Stephanie Rupp 2, Julie Nisbet. Redlands Goals: Mandy Zimbel, Corrine Flowers, Jaina Rumpaulsky. Ejections: Michigan 9, Redlands 7.
N O T E S
Kristin Hoogenboom scored her first career goal against La Verne.
Melissa Goldberg tied a school record with three assists vs. La Verne, and Erin Brown had three assists against Redlands.
Julie Nisbet's hat trick against La Verne is her seventh career hat trick and the second of the season.
Emily Pelino scored a career-high two goals against La Verne.
Against Redlands Casey Kerney recorded her third hat trick of the season. It is the seventh hat trick of her career.
Meg Knudtsen recorded the first hat trick of her career in the Redlands game.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Matt Anderson
On the two games ... "We played well toady. Redlands is a very solid team and every year they upset a team ranked in the top 12. We just wanted to make sure it was not us. We had to do some things differently due to injury. Many of the girls had to do things they were capable of, but we may not have asked them to do before. They handled it very well."
On winning two games to finish the trip ... "It was a good end to the trip. We are a little banged up, but we are happy to be coming home with three wins. We have to keep earning victories out here in order to establish ourselves at the national level."
On the state of the team heading into next weekend's divisional play ... "We have to be ready to make sure we are not blindsided there. Indiana will be an important game, but there are also four other teams that we have to play. We must continue to work so that we can win and be the best at the end of the year."
Contact: Paul Dickerson, Matt Trevor (734) 763-4423
