Michigan
Long Beach State
Wolverines Fall to LBSU, Down CSU East Bay to Open Triton Invite
2/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Site: San Diego, Calif. (Canyonview Pool)
Event: Triton Invitational (Day 1)
Score: #15 Long Beach State 6, #14 Michigan 5; #14 Michigan 10, CSU East Bay 5
Records: U-M (3-4), LBSU (1-4), CSUEB (1-5)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Feb. 8 -- vs. LMU or UC Davis - Triton Invitational (San Diego, Calif.), 10:40 a.m. PST
• Boxscores (PDF): Long Beach State | Cal State East Bay
• Tournament Central
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The No. 14-ranked University of Michigan water polo team split its opening-day games at the Triton Invitational, narrowly falling to No. 15 Long Beach State, 6-5, in the waning seconds before rebounding with a 10-5 win over CSU East Bay on Saturday (Feb. 7) at UC San Diego's Canyonview Pool.
Eight different Wolverines scored at least one goal on the day, while junior Ali Thomason and freshman Caroline Anderson netted goals in both contests. Thomason posted three goals against Long Beach -- her second hat trick of the season -- and added a goal and two assists against CSUEB. Anderson had a hand in six of U-M's 10 goals against CSUEB, registering her first collegiate hat trick and posting three assists. Senior Elizabeth Williams also scored two goals against the Pioneers.
Sophomore Emily Browning and junior Julia Campbell both earned time in the Wolverine goal. Browning posted 17 saves through six quarters of play, including a stellar 14-block effort in the opener against Long Beach. Browning also added a pair of helpers against the Pioneers. Campbell earned seven saves in the second half against CSUEB.
Michigan closed out the day with a 10-5 decision over CSU East Bay, spreading its scoring evenly across all four quarters and seven different players. The Wolverines scored on back-to-back possessions early in the first quarter and maintained a two-goal advantage after each of the first three frames before surging ahead with three unanswered goals in the fourth quarter.
Anderson completed her hat trick with two goals midway through the fourth, while Williams closed out scoring with her second with 2:15 to play. Just as Browning kept CSUEB scoreless in the first, Campbell kept the Pioneers off the board in the fourth, turning away a pair of 6-on-5 opportunities.
The Wolverines dropped a last-second heartbreaker in the morning slate against Long Beach State, surging into the lead in the fourth before giving up two goals in the final minute, including the deciding tally with just one second remaining.
After a scoreless first quarter, Michigan scored twice in quick succession in the opening two minutes of the second on back-to-back goals from Beckwith and Thomason. Long Beach got on the board midway through the frame before the Wolverines reestablished their two-goal advantage with a 6-on-5 tally from Anderson midway through the third.
Long Beach surged late with three unanswered goals, taking its first lead, 4-3, entering the final frame. Thomason evened the score with a five-meter penalty early in the frame and completed her hat trick on the Wolverines' next attack just 36 seconds later, giving U-M a one-goal lead with 5:28 remaining. The Beach tied the game on a 6-on-5 with 57 seconds on the clock, and on their next possession won a battle in front of the Wolverine goal to score the winning goal.
The Wolverines will wrap up play at the Triton Invitational tomorrow (Sunday, Feb. 8), facing either Loyola Marymount or UC Davis in cross-bracket play at 10:20 a.m. PST to determine their placement game. U-M will either play in the ninth-place game at 5:20 p.m. or the 11th-place game at 4 p.m. All games will be held at the Triton Pool.
GAME SUMMARIES
| By Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Michigan (2-4) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Long Beach State (1-4) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
U-M Goals: Ali Thomason 3, Bryce Beckwith, Caroline Anderson
LBSU Goals: Virginia Smith 3, Luiza Moraes, Justine Morgan, Christina Kotsia
Saves: U-M 14 (Emily Browning), LBSU N/A (Alba Dominguez)
Ejections: U-M 6, LBSU 6
| By Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| Michigan (3-4) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| CSU East Bay (1-5) | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
U-M Goals: Caroline Anderson 3, Elizabeth Williams 2, Heidi Moreland, Kelly Martin, Jamie Nolan, Presley Pender, Ali Thomason
CSUEB Goals: Taylor Cross 2, Alyssa Hess, Bre Ritter, Amy Chinn
Saves: U-M 10 (Emily Browning 3, Julia Campbell 7), CSUEB N/A (Marrina Nation)
Ejections: U-M 5, CSUEB 10
NOTES
• With today's outcomes, Michigan fell to 2-10 against Long Beach State and improved to 4-0 against CSU East Bay.
• Junior Ali Thomason owns nine career hat tricks, including two this season. The Wolverines boast four hat trick efforts already this year.
• Thomason, freshman Caroline Anderson and senior Elizabeth Williams have all scored in five of seven games this season.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Emily Browning's 14 saves against Long Beach was the second most in her career. She tallied 16 last season at home against Indiana.
• Michigan's goalies earned 14 saves in back-to-back games. Junior Julia Campbell recorded 14 blocks in U-M's UCSB Winter Invitational finale against CSU Bakersfield (Jan. 25).
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi
On the offensive performance against Long Beach State ... "It took us a while to put points on the board. It was 0-0 at the end of the first. We got a couple of goals to go up, 2-0, but I still felt we weren't clicking on offense. We tried different units in order to create some opportunities to score. It will be an ongoing process. We have to get a little more comfortable with understanding where the scoring opportunities will come, particularly with a defensive-minded team like Long Beach. A couple of our players didn't have great performances on offense, and when one or two players aren't putting the ball in the cage, it's a little contagious. But fortunately, our defense was on, and we just lost at the end."
On the last-second loss against LBSU ... "I hadn't been in the situation with this Michigan to win by one or lose by one. I haven't been in the situation where we're up by three and lose or down by three and come back and win. I haven't yet experienced overtime with them. It's still a learning process. I feel like it's going to take 15-20 games to be able to go through every, single type of situation. Right now, every game we play -- whether we win or lose -- everything is new and a learning process for us. We're still trying to learn about those critical moments -- what our best defense is, who our best offensive players are, our best 6-on-5 unit, our best 5-on-6 unit. With every game, we'll find more answers."
On bouncing back against CSU East Bay ... "I was pleased with how we played in the first game. Coming off Santa Barbara, we had 10 days of practice, and we looked a lot better. We're making progress. In the second game against East Bay, I got minutes for our entire team, which is an opportunity for both Emily [Browning] and Julia [Campbell] to both play and for our bench. That's the way to grow. Other than not winning our first game, I was pleased with how we performed."
