Michigan
Princeton
U-M Claims Seventh CWPA Championship
4/30/2017 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
» Michigan won its seventh CWPA title.
» Allison Skaggs was named the CWPA Championship MVP.
» Dr. Marcelo Leonardi was named the CWPA Coach of the Tournament.
» Allison Skaggs, Maddy Steere, Heidi Ritner, Danielle Johnson and Kim Johnson were named to the all-tournament team.
Site: Bloomington, Ind. (Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center)
Event: CWPA Championship (Final)
Scores: #7 Michigan 5, #9 Princeton 4
Records: U-M (28-8), Princeton (24-4)
Next U-M Event: Monday, May 1 -- NCAA Selection Show (NCAA.com), 7 p.m.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- In a top-10 matchup with the CWPA Championship title on the line, the No. 7 University of Michigan water polo team topped No. 9 Princeton, 5-4, to claim the title for the second straight season and seventh time in program history on Sunday (April 30) at Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center.
Michigan added to its previous championships in 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2016 to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship and bring its winning streak to 16 games.
Senior captain Allison Skaggs was named the CWPA Championship MVP, and Dr. Marcelo Leonardi was named the CWPA Coach of the Tournament for the second straight year.
Skaggs and freshman Maddy Steere were named to the CWPA All-Tournament first team. Freshman Heidi Ritner, senior Danielle Johnson and sophomore Kim Johnson were all selected to the second team.
The game was a defensive battle from start to finish, but as the clock wound down to zero, the U-M players were hugging each other in the water and on the team bench. Once the entire team got out of the pool, they all jumped in together to celebrate a championship for the second straight year.
Ritner had another terrific day to cap off an amazing tournament. She stopped 14 shots in the cage, many of which came on Princeton power-play chances as she helped U-M stop them on nine of the 11 6-on-5 opportunities. Ritner had 32 saves over the final two games and 37 on the weekend while allowing only 10 goals in the three games.
Much of the first quarter was dominated by the goalkeepers. Princeton finally scored the game's first goal with 19 seconds left in the quarter on one of its few 6-on-5 conversions.
At the 6:29 mark of the second period, Michigan evened the score. Skaggs slammed it to the back of the goal off a great feed by junior Caroline Anderson, who was playing in her 100th career game. A little less than four minutes later, the Wolverines took the lead when Anderson took the shot herself. It was 2-1 U-M at halftime.
Princeton tied the score at 2-2 on their first possession of the second half and then took the 3-2 lead two minutes later.
Michigan quickly answered with back-to-back goals to regain the lead at 4-3. Anderson found sophomore Julia Sellers for a 6-on-5 goal, and then the Johnson sisters connected as Danielle gave the Wolverines the lead.
The score stayed at 4-3 for more than eight minutes as the defenses continued to limit good looks. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Wolverines scored an important goal at the 4:43 mark. Anderson, who had been the key to the offense all game, picked up her second score of the contest on a 6-on-5 pass from Sellers.
Princeton scored with eight seconds left, but Michigan ran out the clock and secured its seventh title.
Sunday was just the second time Michigan and Princeton met in the championship game. The first time was in 2013 when the Tigers won, 7-5. This time around it was the Wolverines coming out on top. The win gives U-M eight victories over top-10 teams in 2017 (8).
Stay tuned for the NCAA selection show tomorrow (Monday, May 1) at 7 p.m. as Michigan awaits its matchup for the NCAA Championship May 12-14.
