Michigan
Hartwick
Wolverine Defense Leads Them to CWPA Championship Game
4/28/2018 6:01:00 PM | Water Polo
» Michigan advanced to its 12th CWPA final with a 9-5 win over No. 13 Hartwick.
» The U-M defense held Hartwick to five goals and had 13 steals and four field blocks.
» Sophomore goalkeeper Heidi Ritner tied Julia Campbell's single-season wins record with 29 and became the third Wolverine to hit 500 career saves.
Site: Lewisburg, Pa. (Kinney Natatorium)
Event: CWPA Semifinals
Score: #10 Michigan 9, #13 Hartwick 5
Records: Michigan (31-8), #13 Hartwick (29-11)
Next U-M Event: April 29 -- vs. Princeton - CWPA Championship Game (Lewisburg, Pa.), 1:30 p.m.
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LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The No. 10 University of Michigan water polo team advanced to the CWPA championship game with a 9-5 victory over No. 13 Hartwick on Saturday (April 27) in the CWPA semifinals.
The Wolverines will try to win their third straight CWPA title, and eighth overall, as they play in the finals for the 12th time in 18 seasons. U-M will take on the top seed No. 10 Princeton in the championship game.
In a hard-fought semifinal game, it was Michigan's defense that rose to the challenge. Behind 13 steals, four field blocks and six saves from sophomore goalkeeper Heidi Ritner, and an effort that held the Hawks to just 1-of-7 on 6-on-5 opportunities, Dr. Marcelo Leonardi's press defense had Hartwick stifled the entire game. Two of the Hawks' five goals came on penalty shots as U-M held an opponent to five goals or fewer for the 16th time this season.
"Our field blocks, the amount of steals we had and being able to draw offensives all helped us turn the pool over," said freshman Kathy Rogers.
There was an emotionally charged atmosphere at Kinney Natatorium on the campus of Bucknell University. Both teams had a supportive fan base in attendance as the Hawks and Wolverines came out playing at a high level.
Rogers played a big role in getting the Wolverines off to a strong start. She found an open lane on the 6-on-5, took one stroke and senior Caroline Anderson found her for the game's first goal at the 2:33 mark. After a Hartwick offensive foul, Rogers found the back of the net again for back-to-back goals and a 2-0 lead within a span of 14 seconds.
"The whole team set the tone early," said Rogers. "The pace of the game was fast. It was really good to get up two goals."
Hartwick cut the lead to 2-1 with 20 seconds left in the first quarter, getting open water and sending it over the head of a charging Ritner. Three huge field blocks in the second quarter kept the Hawks scoreless the rest of the half. Sophomore Maddy Steere had two and senior Christina O'Beck had one. Both had a field block to thwart 6-on-5 opportunities for Hartwick.
Michigan added two goals to its lead by halftime. Anderson sent one in from deep with the shot clock winding down and Steere rose up to skip one in.
The teams went scoreless for almost four minutes to start the second half, and again it was Rogers cracking the scoreboard first. She finished off her fourth career hat trick with a finish behind the back line of the defense as Anderson lofted a perfect pass over the top.
Hartwick cut the lead to 6-3 with two penalty-shot goals, but Anderson gave Michigan a boost with a goal from five meters out to make it 7-3 heading into the fourth quarter.
Each team added two goals in the final period and Michigan's four-goal lead held up to help them move on to the title game.
Rogers and Anderson led the way for U-M as Rogers had three goals and Anderson finished with two goals and two assists. Juniors Kim Johnson and Julia Sellers each had three steals.
Three of the team's four field blocks came with the team down a player. O'Beck, Steere, Rogers and Laura Jimenez all helped defend shots to combine with Ritner for 10 blocks in the game. Ritner ended up with six saves to pass 500 career saves. She is just the third goalkeeper in school history to hit the 500 mark and tied Julia Campbell's 2016 single-season record of 29 wins.
The CWPA Championship game will take place at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday (April 29) in Kinney Natatorium.
