Michigan
Harvard
Wolverines Look to Stay Undefeated in Conference Play
4/10/2019 4:59:00 PM | Water Polo
THIS WEEK
Saturday, April 13 -- vs. No. 18 Harvard (Lewisburg, Pa.), 1:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 13 -- at No. 18 Bucknell (Lewisburg, Pa.), 6:30 p.m.
Live Stream
Sunday, Apr. 14 -- vs. George Washington (Lewisburg, Pa.), 10:30 a.m.
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan water polo team (18-8, 3-0 CWPA) will continue conference play this weekend when it takes on three CWPA opponents in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. On Saturday (April 13), the Wolverines will take on the two teams tied at No. 18 in the rankings in Harvard (20-5, 3-2 CWPA) at 1 p.m. and host Bucknell (22-9, 3-0 CWPA) at 6:30 p.m. U-M will finish the weekend on Sunday (April 14) with a 10:30 a.m. matchup with George Washington (5-10, 0-3 CWPA). These will be the final three games of the regular season and will take place at Kinney Natatorium on the campus of Bucknell University.
Conference Season
• The Wolverines will finish up the regular season with three conference games when they travel to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. They will take on Harvard and Bucknell, tied at No. 18 in the rankings, and George Washington.
• Michigan enters this weekend tied for first place with Bucknell in the CWPA conference with a 3-0 league record.
• Michigan wrapped up the non-conference portion of its season with a 15-8 overall record and are now 18-8 overall.
• The Wolverines have a 33-2 (.943) record in the CWPA under head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi in his first five seasons.
• Last season, Michigan outscored its conference opponents, 107-52, during the regular season and 36-17 in the conference tournament.
• U-M is a combined 51-0 all-time against the three schools they are set to face this weekend.
• Under Leonardi, Michigan is 5-0 against Harvard, 6-0 against Bucknell and 6-0 vs. George Washington.
Team 19
• Michigan is 18-8 on the season and ranked No. 6 in the country for the sixth straight week.
• The Wolverines have played one of the toughest schedules in the country with six wins over top-10 teams and six of their eight losses coming to teams ranked in the top five of the polls.
• Under head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi, the Wolverines are 127-47 overall.
• Michigan outscored three conference opponents 48-9 in three wins at Harvard last weekend. U-M topped Saint Francis (Pa.), 18-1, Brown, 21-2, on Saturday (April 6), and No. 15 Princeton, 9-6, on Sunday (April 7).
• Michigan has had a balanced scoring attack this season with eight different players scoring at least 10 goals. Five Wolverines have scored 20 goals or more.
Opponents
• Harvard is 20-5 on the season and is 3-2 during conference play, and has collected 20 wins for the fifth time in program history. They are 0-5 against Dr. Marcelo Leonardi during his tenure at Michigan, but have had a strong season with recent victories against ranked opponents – then-No. 24 Bucknell (15-13, March 31), then No. 19 San Jose State (10-7, March 21) and then No. 13 Fresno State (13-12, March 19).
• Bucknell is 22-9 on the season and 3-0 in the CWPA, tied for first place in the conference with the Wolverines. The Bison are having a historic season and reached the 20-win mark for the first time since 2008. U-M is 23-0 in the all-time series against Bucknell.
• George Washington is 5-10 on the season overall, and is 0-3 in the conference and 0-7 when facing ranked opponents. Freshman Juliette Belanger has been a recent strong offensive force, netting a team-high four goals against ranked Bucknell in the Colonials' most recent game (April 7). The Wolverines are 6-0 versus George Washington under Dr. Marcelo Leonardi and will look to finish out their regular season continuing this streak.
Last Time Out
• Michigan had a great showing in Boston and started off conference play undefeated (3-0) and outscored their three opponents, 48-9.
• The Wolverines cruised to victories in their first two games, outscoring Saint Francis and Brown 18-1 and 21-2, respectively.
• The closest game U-M played last weekend was against No. 15 Princeton (9-6), a Wolverines win due to four five-meter penalties.
• Junior goalkeeper Heidi Ritner allowed just seven goals in 72 minutes on the weekend and became just the second player in Michigan program history with 75 wins.
•Senior Julia Sellers led the team with 10 goals to go with four assists.
•Junior Maddy Steere tallied nine goals and five assists.
Milestone Watch
• Heidi Ritner is expected to play in her 100th career game this weekend. She is 16 saves shy of 700 for her career.
• Maddy Steere is six goals shy of Allison Skaggs for ninth on Michigan's career list, three assists away from sixth and three points shy of eighth.Â
• Steere is 14 points shy of becoming the eighth player in program history with 300 career points.
• Sophomore Maddy Johnston needs one point to reach 100 for her career.
• Seniors Kim Johnson and Julia Sellers are tied for third all-time on the career goals list with Alison Mantel.
• Johnson also is tied with Steere on the career assists list, three shy of moving into sixth all-time.
• Sellers is three assists shy of 100 for her career. She needs two points to pass Ali Thomason into sixth all-time at Michigan.
• Freshman Abby Andrews already ranks sixth on the single-season assists list, two shy of Johnson for fifth. Andrews needs six assists to break Caroline Anderson's freshman record of 56 in 2015.
• Andrews is five points shy of the 15th 100-point season in program history and just the third by a freshman.
