May Day: Goalkeeper Leads Wolverines Past Marist

Saturday, May 10

Palo Alto, Calif.

12:30 PM PT

Michigan

Marist

5/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo

Site: Palo Alto, Calif. (Avery Aquatic Center)
Event: NCAA Championship (Consolation Semifinals)
Score: #10 Michigan 7, Marist 4
Records: U-M (34-10), Marist (27-9)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, May 11 -- vs. San Diego State at NCAA Championship (Palo Alto, Calif.), 2:15 p.m. PDT

Notes & Quotes | Photo Gallery

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- The No. 10-ranked University of Michigan water polo team took down Marist 7-4 on Saturday (May 10) in the consolation semifinal round of the NCAA Championship at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center. The victory delivers the Wolverines to the fifth-place game Sunday (May 11) and gives them the opportunity to earn the program's highest finish since the championship field expanded to eight teams.

Junior Brittany May(Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) made a career-high 11 saves in the cage for Michigan. Sophomore Leah Robertson(Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) led the defensive charge for the Wolverines with five steals, and junior Carrie Frost(Saline, Mich./Saline) had a pair of thefts to go with a goal and an assist. Junior Sharayah Hernandez(Pico Rivera, Calif./El Rancho) also scored and added a helper.

Michigan came flying out of the chute, taking a 1-0 lead just 14 seconds into the game. Senior Michelle Keeley(Rockford, Mich./Rockford) took a pass at two meters, spun off her mark, and drove toward the net to deposit a lob into the left side of the cage. Marist evened the score at 2:39 on a shot that found its way to the net through traffic. On the next U-M trip down the pool, the Wolverines tried to connect on a tic-tac-toe passing sequence from freshman Cara Reitz(Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) to freshman Lauren Orth(Poway, Calif./Poway) to junior Mary Chatigny(Palm Springs, Calif./Palm Springs), but the high shot was turned away by a lunging Red Fox netminder.

The Wolverines reclaimed the lead on a goal from Reitz with 47 seconds remaining in the opening stanza to conclude a possession that saw three fresh shot clocks. Orth started the scoring drive with a long attempt toward the far bar that was knocked out of bounds to give U-M a new 35-second window to work with. The clock reset again on the Red Fox exclusion that would give U-M a 2-1 lead. Frost threaded a pass across the goal mouth to Reitz, who reached out and slammed the ball into the near corner.

The sides exchanged power-play scoring opportunities early in the second period. Junior Julie Hyrne(Sunnyvale, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) had a chance just over a minute into the frame, but her shot was met by the Marist netminder. May stood on her head for much of the second period, corralling a ball off the post on a penalty kill at 5:26 and getting her body in front of an off-center shot from four meters at 3:15. The Wolverines extended their lead to 3-1 at 2:12 on a backhanded goal by Frost. With Frost in at two meters, Chatigny tossed a pass over a defender with the shot clock fading. Frost grabbed the ball and whipped it over her left shoulder and into the back of the cage. The two-goal lead did not last long, as Marist got in the last blow before the break, scoring on ball that careened off May and the goal post before going in with 1:06 remaining in the half.

Michigan started the second half with 18 seconds of power play time remaining. As that time expired, Hernandez whipped a shot through a crowd and inside the far bar to give the Maize and Blue a 4-2 lead. A minute later, freshman Alison Mantel(Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) tallied from seven meters after emerging from a scrum with the ball and depositing it inside the far bar. The Red Foxes tried to chip into the lead with a one-time attempt with just over two minutes remaining. Marist tried to fire a quick shot after a pass across the goal mouth, but May was there with her right arm to knock it down. The attackers managed to get a rebound, but May recovered enough to force the shooter to miss the cage.

Freshman Sarah Roberts(Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor) used a heads up play to give the Wolverines a 6-2 lead at 2:14. Roberts reacted quickly at two meters following a kickout call, using the moment of confusion from the opposition as a window to pound the ball into the net. Marist put a dent in the U-M lead, scoring the next two markers, one with 1:02 remaining in the third frame and the other at 6:01 with an extra attacker in the fourth period.

Sophomore Terri Bukofzer(Vernon Hills, Ill./Stevenson) rounded out the scoring at 5:09 just minutes after being denied on a breakaway. Early in the fourth period, Bukofzer was off to the races with two Red Fox defenders. She slowed up and tried a lob from three meters out, but the goalkeeper was there to make the save. At 5:09, Bukofzer got her revenge, skipping a shot from five meters into the cage.

The Wolverines (34-10) will face No. 5-ranked San Diego State in the NCAA Championship fifth-place game tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. PDT at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center.

Game Summary

By Periods	1	2	3	4	F
Marist	1	1	1	1	4
Michigan	2	1	3	1	7
Marist Goals: Katelin McCahill, Colleen Lischwe, Rosie Pauli. Michigan Goals: Michelle Keeley, Alison Mantel, Cara Reitz, Sarah Roberts, Carrie Frost, Sharayah Hernandez Terri Bukofzer.