Michigan
Loyola Marymount
Wolverines Endure Late Push in Upset Victory
2/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Site:Los Angeles, Calif.(Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center)
Scores: #15 Michigan 8, #9 Loyola Marymount 6
Records: U-M (6-7), LMU (3-3)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., Feb.23-24 -- at Anteater Invitational(Irvine Calif.)
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- With three starters out with foul trouble for much of the fourth period, the No. 15 University of Michigan water polo team turned to its bench to maintain its lead and complete an 8-6 upset victory over No. 9 Loyola Marymount Thursday (Feb. 21) in the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center.
Sophomore Leah Robertson(Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) had a pair of goals and drew four ejections in the win. Junior Julie Hyrne(Sunnyvale, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) posted similarly strong numbers, scoring twice while generating three 6-on-5 opprotunities.
Junior Brittany May(Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) made six saves in the cage and made a career high three steals. The victory was the third-straight for the Wolverine goalkeeper.
The Wolverines found themselves in a volatile with six minutes remaining in the contest. Up by an 8-4 margin, junior Sharayah Hernandez(Pico Rivera, Calif./El Rancho) and Hyrne were forced out with foul trouble. Loyola Marymount bore down on the Michigan defenders, scoring on a 6-on-3 at 5:33 and at even strength with 3:50 remaining. In the last three minutes, Michigan shook off three 6-on-5's -- with Keeley joining her two fellow starters on the sidelines with three ejections -- to clinch the victory.
Michigan got on the board early as Hyrne scored on a counterattack to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead. Keeley extended her scoring streak to five games to put the Maize and Blue up 2-0 at 4:30. Junior Kelsey Haley(Portola Valley, Calif./Menlo) added to the U-M lead that would stand a 3-0 until a LMU powerplay marker with one second remaining in the period kept Michigan's lead at two.
The teams exchanged goals in the second with U-M's Hyrne and Robertson sandwiching goals around a Loyola Marymount score to give Michigan a 5-2 lead heading into halftime. Following a goal by LMU at 5:39 of the third period, Hernandez fired a skip shot from five-meters and junior Mary Chatigny(Palm Springs, Calif./Palm Springs) scored on a cross-cage attempt to give the Wolverines all the pad they would need. Loyola scored less than a minute into the fourth followed by a Robertson insurance goal on a 6-on-5 at 6:38 of the final stanza.
Michigan continuesits tour of northern California at the Anteater Invitational on Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 23-24) in Irvine, Calif. The Wolverines open the weekend with No. 3 USC at 11:30 a.m. PST.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |||||
| #15 Michigan | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||||
| #9 Loyola Marymount | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Matt Anderson
On beating a top-ten team ... "I think the ladies understood that we have been kicking the door hard enough this year, that it is just a matter of finally kicking it open. We had confidence and a belief going into this game that if we did what we wanted to, we should be able to get a victory. We laid that out to them and they felt that way and played that way and we got up early and carried a nice lead into the fourth that the younger players stepped up to hold the lead. The veterans got us to the lead and the younger players executed the victory once we got into foul trouble. This was a good win. It's a win that the girls came in wanting to get and expecting to get, and hopefully it will lead into having a good weekend."
On the depth Michigan showed late in the game ... "When we got all of those fouls, we had to turn to people who hadn't played in two-plus periods. Cara Reitz is a great example. She almost put the game away with 1:20 left -- had a good shot that took a tough bounce and landed on the goal line. It was outstanding how she went in and created opportunities. Carrie Frost, who was in there playing with two kickouts, did a good job playing defense.
On the play of goalkeeper Brittany May ... "I thought Brittany May really stepped it up and made nice saves when we needed them to maintain momentum. Momentum saves is what she gave us and it always helps when you are playing a team that is as automatic -- in terms of making the NCAA tournament -- as LMU is."
Contact: Ryan Sosin (734) 763-4423
