Michigan
Indiana
Hyrne's Heroics Hand U-M Sixth Straight Division Title
4/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Sophomore Julie Hyrne (Sunnyvale, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) scored twice in overtime Sunday (April 22) as the No. 19-ranked University of Michigan women's water polo team came from two goals down to beat Indiana in overtime, 8-6, and win the Western Division Championship in Canham Natatorium. After trailing 6-4 with three minutes to play, Michigan scored twice in 16 seconds to force overtime and netted two second-overtime markers to win the division title for the sixth straight season. Seniors Wesley Ellison (Portola Valley, Calif./Palo Alto) and Shana Welch (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) conclude their final game at Canham Natatorium with a division crown.
Michigan won the opening sprint and nearly opened the scoring, but sophomore Sharayah Hernandez' (Pico Rivera, Calif./El Rancho) chance hit the bar. IU responded with a power-play tally at 6:33 of the first. Freshman Leah Robertson (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) answered that tally with a 6-on-5 goal of her own. She nearly gave U-M its first lead on a breakaway but her shot bounced off the crossbar and out. Indiana took advantage, scoring twice to build a 3-1 lead midway through the frame. The Wolverines bounced back, taking advantage of stellar passing to knot the score again. Hernandez converted on a breakaway pass from sophomore goalkeeper Kristen Davis (Villa Park, Calif./Villa Park) and sophomore Carrie Frost (Saline, Mich./Saline) and scored on a bang-bang power-play conversion to tie the contest at 3-3 to end the first.
Michigan continued to carry the offensive momentum in the second and was rewarded when freshman Terri Bukofzer (Vernon Hills, Ill./Stevenson) answered an early IU goal to tie the game once again. Michigan nearly took the lead midway through the second when Hyrne fired a shot that bounced off the crossbar and out. U-M continued to dominate offensively but strong defense left the contest knotted up at the halftime buzzer.
Following two near Wolverine misses, Davis came up huge, making two power-play saves in a two-minute span; the score remained 3-3 at end the third.
After the Hoosiers took a 5-4 lead to begin the fourth, Michigan gained a 6-on-5 chance. Both Welch and Robertson had good looks but both shots just missed crossing the goal line. U-M earned another glorious opportunity midway through the frame when the Wolverines were awarded a penalty shot. The shot was blocked away by the Hoosiers. IU scored on their next possession to make it 6-4 with 4:15 remaining.
The Wolverines fought back behind a veteran in Welch and rookie in Robertson. On a 2-on-1 counterattack, Robertson buried her chance and, following a steal by Frost seconds later, Michigan pressed again to create a 3-on-2. Welch received a pass from the right side of the cage and ripped home the tying marker with 2:14 left, moving the score to 6-6. Each team had a power-play chance in the final two minutes, but could not convert and for the second straight meeting, the two teams went into overtime.
Michigan's defense continued to be steady as a rock in the first overtime, stopping an IU 6-on-5 opportunity. Both offenses stayed tentative the entire period and the score remained 6-6 entering the final overtime period.
During Michigan's second possession of the second overtime, Hyrne became the hero. She shifted back with a defender in her face and -- from beyond seven meters -- sent a rocket to the high-right corner, giving U-M its first lead of the game, 7-6. A minute later, the Wolverines put the game away on their only power-play chance in overtime. Bukofzer's 6-on-5 shot bounced right off the IU netminder and Hyrne stepped in to shove the rebound into the cage. Michigan's defense stifled the Indiana the rest of the way and U-M captured another division championship.
Michigan will compete next at the Eastern Championships Saturday and Sunday (April 28-29) at the Tigers' DeNunzio Pool in Princeton, N.J. The Wolverines will find out their seed early this upcoming week. The winner of the Eastern Championships earns the CWPA bid to the NCAA Championships, held at Long Beach State from May 11-13.
GAME SUMMARY
| By Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | OT | F |
| Michigan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Indiana | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Scoring
U-M Goals: Julie Hyrne 2, Leah Robertson 2, Terri Bukofzer, Carrie Frost, Shana Welch, Sharayah Hernandez. IU Goals: Brooke Zimmerman 3, Emily Schmitt, Melissa Soria, Kristin Zernicke. U-M Goalkeeper: Kristen Davis (8 saves, 1 assist, 2 steals) Ejections: U-M 11, IU 14
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Matt Anderson
On the win ... "We were down by two in the first period and came back to tie. Then we were down by two with three minutes left and had missed a penalty shot. I knew, though, that what we had been working on all year had to be the deciding factor. The difference in this game compared to at Indiana, was we scored two counterattack goals in the last couple minutes of the game. We made our 3-on-2 and 2-on-1, where in the previous meeting, we missed those chances. With major foul trouble to some of our starters, we still played very strong defense. And in overtime, we still had the conditioning and aggressiveness to swim up and down the pool hard on both ends. This is probably the most satisfying of any of the other five championships because I had two freshmen and four sophomores out there that logged major minutes. They carried us the final minutes of regulation through both overtime periods. I just extremely proud of our girls who stepped up. But, as I told the girls, that was not a well-played game in the sense that we did not play as well as we would have liked, but we played well enough to win. Now we have to change our focus because there are eight teams that are vying for that spot to the NCAAs from the Eastern region. We can be happy tonight, but we have to get back to work tomorrow because we have only a few days to prepare for a very tough regional."
On Julie Hyrne's first overtime score ... "She wasn't able to get the foul because the girl was pressing her out and she painted the corner. That was just an amazing shot. The defender's arm was on her. The goalie was reading the shot. She could not have placed that more perfectly than she did. On her second goal, Terri Bukofzer took a good shot and Julie was there to put the rebound home because she anticipated the block by the goalie."
On seniors Wesley Ellison and Shana Welch winning their final home game ... "With the culmination of this senior weekend and the fact that both Wesley and Shana are my first two recruits that came in, made it all four years and are having outstanding seasons is outstanding. They won a lot of games together and more importantly, won four league championships and will always remember that they graduated with four."
U-M Senior Shana Welch
On winning four Western Division Championships ... "It's awesome. We try to keep it a tradition to always win Westerns; especially going into Easterns, this is a good boost for us. It's a great experience every year in my four years. It is awesome to be a part of all of that. Hopefully, next year we can keep the tradition and on and on in years to come. It is definitely a great feeling."
On winning her final match at Canham Natatorium ... "It was our home pool and our home crowd, and it was our senior night. At Indiana, it was their home pool, home crowd and their senior night. Everything was in reverse and we came in ready for this game, and it was a great win."
U-M Sophomore Julie Hyrne
On scoring two overtime goals ... "I played a bit scared and passive to begin the game. Then I got kicked out twice and Matt (Anderson) had to pull me out. I felt like I was letting my team down, so when I went back in, I set for a few possessions -- because two-meter set was my old position -- and that gave me back my confidence. We just got pumped up and came back."
On her first overtime goal ... "Part of that comes from being a two-meter set. It doesn't bother me when I have a defender on me. I didn't even notice the defender. I saw the shot clock winding down and heard everyone counting. I just had to make the shot. Matt had talked to me about shooting that shot before and we had been working on it."
On her second overtime goal ... "At that point, everything was going into the cage, whether it was the goalie, the ball, the defender, I was going to get the ball across the line. I told Carrie Frost at the start of that possession that everything is going into the cage."
N O T E S
Michigan improves to 2-1 on the year against IU and 21-5-1 all-time versus the Hoosiers. Previous to today's triumph, Michigan downed the Hoosiers 12-7 on January 27 before falling to IU 9-7 in overtime.
The Wolverines win today marks the sixth straight season the Wolverines have won the division championship. The Wolverines won the Southern Division Championship in 2002 and 2003. The past four titles have been named the Western Division Championship.
Today's 8-6 score marks the fourth straight season the Wolverines have won by two or fewer goals and second time the decision has went to overtime in the Western Division Championship.
After scoring 48 goals in three games, the Wolverines now have 418 goals this season, which is the most goals scored by a U-M team in a season in school history.
Senior Shana Welch and sophomore Julie Hyrne complete the weekend with streaks of scoring a point in every game played this season. Each player is tied for the team lead in goals with 79.
Sophomore Carrie Frost notched a career-high six steals, while freshman Leah Robertson tallied five. Frost also completed the weekend with a team-best six assists.
Sophomores Carrie Frost and Julie Hyrne tied for the team lead in points in the weekend with 12 apiece.
Contact: Matt Baumer (734) 763-4423
