Michigan
Indiana
Michigan Tops Rival No. 15 Indiana to Open CWPA Play
4/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
» Michigan earned its 20th victory of the season.
» U-M outscored Indiana 5-1 in the third quarter.
» Senior Ali Thomason recorded her 13th hat trick of the year.
Site: Bloomington, Ind. (Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center)
Score: #8 Michigan 11, #15 Indiana 8
Records: U-M (20-6, 1-0 CWPA), IU (15-6, 0-1 CWPA)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, April 9 -- vs. Princeton (11 a.m.) and Harvard (6:30 p.m.)
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan water polo team opened up conference play on Saturday (April 2) against rival No. 15 Indiana, starting 1-0 in the CWPA with an 11-8 victory over the Hoosiers in front of a national audience on the Big Ten Network.
Michigan played great pressure defense and used its athleticism to get out on counter attack opportunities to break the game open in the third quarter and claim its 20th win of the season. The 20 victories are one more than head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi had in his first season with the Wolverines a year ago.
Tied 4-4 at halftime, U-M came out and executed perfectly in the third period to outscore Indiana 5-1 and open up a 9-5 lead.
It started with a defensive stop. Junior Danielle Johnson got the ball and sent it all the way to the other end of the pool to sophomore Caroline Anderson who quickly found freshman Kim Johnson all alone on the other side for an easy goal. A powerful shot from senior Kelly Martin made it a two-goal game for the first time at the 6:34 mark.
Less than two minutes later, Kim Johnson scored her second of the game off a defensive stop and quick counter attack to set up another open look off a feed from sophomore Laura Jimenez.
Senior Ali Thomason added a penalty shot goal with 1:53 left in the third and then Danielle Johnson finished off the big quarter with a total effort goal. She battled two defenders to come up with the ball and was able to send it in with just two seconds left on the clock.
Indiana started to come back in the fourth quarter with two early goals and a chance to cut the lead to one goal with a power play opportunity midway through the quarter. However, a field block by U-M led to a goal by freshman Amy Ridge on the other end to stretch the lead back out to three goals.
Thomason put the icing on the cake with exactly one minute to go, scoring her third goal of the game to give her a hat trick or better 13 times this year.
The two teams traded goals in the first half with Michigan scoring first on a rare inside goal from Anderson. Indiana led for much of the half but an amazing goal by junior Allison Skaggs sent the game into halftime all tied at 4-4. Skaggs, who interned with UK Active last summer, was very active on the play as she got the ball, made a quick spin to her right and fired a back-handed shot into the opposite corner of the goal.
The goal prompted fans to tag #SCtop10 on Twitter in hopes the play would be recognized as one of the best on the day throughout sports.
Kim Johnson had a big day with two goals, two assists and three steals. Her older sister, Danielle, and Anderson also had three steals as U-M ratcheted up the pressure for 14 steals on the day. Ridge also tallied two goals in the game.
Michigan will return home for two conference games next weekend. The Wolverines will face Princeton at 11 a.m. on Saturday (April 9) at Canham Natatorium. Later that day U-M will take on Harvard at 6:30 p.m. with the game being televised by BTN.
