No. 7 University of Michigan Advances to Fifth Consecutive Collegiate Water Polo Association Championship Title Game by Blanking Mount St. Mary’s University, 16-0

No. 7 University of Michigan-vs.-Mount St. Mary’s University Scoresheet (2021 CWPA Division I Championship – Game #1)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Erin Neustrom (Jr., Moraga, Calif./Campolindo) notched a hat-trick to lead all scorers as 11 different athletes from No. 7-ranked/host the University of Michigan found the back of the cage with shots in a 16-0 shutout of Mount St. Mary’s University in the opening game of the 2021 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division I Championship hosted by the Wolverines at Canham Natatorium.

The victory marks the inaugural shutout in the history of women’s varsity water polo at the CWPA Championship and eclipses the previous record of fewest goals allowed in a championship tournament game previously held by Hartwick College (16-1 W vs. Harvard University, April 28, 2007 at Princeton University), Michigan (7-1 W vs. Bucknell University, April 20, 2005 at Indiana Univesity) and Indiana (5-1 W vs. Princeton, April 25, 2003 at Harvard).

Courtesy the victory, the Wolverines (20-4, 7-0 CWPA) earn the right to defend their home pool with the league championship on the line as Michigan returns to the water at 7:00 p.m. this evening against the victor of a first round contest pitting No. 20 Bucknell University versus Saint Francis University. The Maize & Blue swept both the Bison and Red Flash during the regular season as Michigan topped Bucknell (16-5 W, March 20 at Bucknell; 15-6 W, April 11 at Bucknell) and Saint Francis (13-2 W, February 21 at Michigan; 13-5 W, March 21 at SFU; 20-3 W, April 11 at Bucknell).

The four-time (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) defending CWPA Champion as the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan wasted little time in setting the stage for the program’s third victory over the Mountaineers (0-14. 0-7 CWPA) as the Wolverines pounced on Mount St. Mary’s for five first quarter goals to claim dominance in the contest.

Ava Morrant (Jr., Maple Ridge, British Columbia/Maple Ridge Secondary School) broke the ice for Michigan 16 seconds into the contest by finishing a pass from Maddie O’Reilly (Sr., Villanova, Pa./The Episcopal Academy) for the game-winning goal with 7:44 left in the first quarter of action.  Anne Rankin (So., Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) padded the lead with an unassisted strike at 6:32 prior to O’Reilly distributing a pass to Sofie Pontre (Sr., Perth, Western Australia/Santa Maria College) at 5:31 to build the margin to 3-0. O’Reilly distributed her third helper of the game’s first eight minutes at 4:41 as she found Neustrom to make it 4-0 prior to Kayla Utassy (Fr., Budapest, Hungary/Konyves Kalan Secondary School) getting in on the charity at 3:13 by finding Libby Alsemgeest (Fr., Hamilton, New Zealand/St. Cuthbert’s College) for a tally to acquire a 5-0 lead.

The Mountaineers were able to stymie Michigan from finding the back of the cage again until the 6:17 mark of the second quarter when Elise Walker (Fr., Los Altos, Calif./St. Francis) whipped a ball into the twine to make it 6-0.

The score ignited another 5-0 quarter for the defending champions as Sammi Monroe (Fr., Pleasant Hill, Calif./College Park) buried a pass from Ella Abbott (So., Corona del Mar, Calif./Corona del Mar) at 5:07, Kasey Umlauf (Fr., Northfield, Ill./New Trier Township) converted on a power-play bid off an assist from Monroe at 4:06 and Grace Harbaugh (So., Coronado, Calif./Coronado) played quarterback in hitting Walker in motion with a pass at 2:56 to grab a 9-0 margin with the clock winding down until halftime.

Michigan broke into double-digits prior to the break as Harbaugh zipped in an unassisted marker at 2:12 to place the Wolverines comfortably in front at 10-0 through 16 minutes of competition.

Following halftime, starting goalie Heidi Ritner (Gr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) remained on the bench and turned over netminding duties to Alex Brown (So., Clayton, Calif./Carondelet).

However, the majority of action remained on the Mountaineers’ side of the tank as the Wolverines continued to inflate their lead with four more scores in the third quarter and a pair in the fourth frame to snag the 16-0 win.

Alsemgeest commenced the Maize & Blue’s second half scoring by denting the twine at 6:30 prior to Emily Ritner (Sr., Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) putting away her own chance at the six minute mark to make it 12-0.  Kathy Rogers (Sr., New Forest, England/Trinity School) and Neustrom – off an assist from Pontre – closed out the third quarter with back-to-back strikes at 2:58 and 2:10, respectively, to enlarge the margin to 14-0 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.

Goalkeeper Sophie Jackson (Jr., West Yorkshire, England/The Crossley Heath Grammar School) played the final eight minutes in cage for Michigan, while the Wolverines’ offense continued to click to notch a final pair of goals to close out the inaugural shutout in league championship tournament history.

Umlauf started the final string of fireworks by finishing a pass from Emily Byrne (Gr., Orinda, Calif./Miramonte) at 5;08 prior to Kayla Barone (Jr., Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) cashing in on a centering pass from Abby May (So., Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) with 1:15 left on the game clock for the final blow.

Neustrom led the offense with three goals, while Alsemgeest, Walker and Umlauf each contributed pairs.  Barone, Rankin, Monroe, Rogers, Emily Ritner, Pontre and Harbaugh each posted solo strikes, with May, Byrne, Monroe, Pontre, Abbott, Harbaugh and Utassy notching assists to accompany O’Reilly’s trio.

In cage, Heidi Ritner did not make a save in the first half, while Jackson and Brown both turned aside pairs of shots during their single quarters of action.

For Mount St. Mary’s, goalie Rebekka Williams (Gr., Poway, Calif./Poway/University of Hawaii) made six saves in taking the loss.

The Mountaineers will await the result of the Bucknell-Saint Francis first round game to determine their opponent in the Third Place game at 4:00 p.m.  The 2021 season marks the first season of women’s varsity competition at Mount St. Mary’s.

For Michigan, which improves to 47-12 all-time at the CWPA Championship – including a 41-11 record since 2001 – the program will make its 15th CWPA Championship title game appearance at 7:00 p.m. this evening versus either Bucknell or Saint Francis.  A nine-time champion (2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) and four-time runner-up (2004, 2006, 2011, 2013), the Wolverines add to their record for most title game appearances (15) – shattering the previous mark of 10 held by Slippery Rock University.

In the history of the CWPA Championship, Michigan has finished Fifth (2001), First (2002, 7-6 W OT SD vs. Hartwick College at Princeton), third (2003), second (2004, 5-2 L vs. Hartwick at Bucknell), first (2005, 8-7 W at Indiana), second (2006, 11-8 L vs. Hartwick at Brown University), fourth (2007), first (2008, 10-7 W vs. Hartwick at home), first (2009, 12-6 W vs. Hartwick at Harvard), first (2010, 7-5 W vs. Indiana at University of Maryland), second (2011, 5-3 L at Indiana), third (2012), second (2013, 7-5 L vs. Princeton at home), third (2014), fourth (2015), first (2016, 9-2 W vs. Indiana at Harvard), first (2017, 5-4 W vs. Princeton at Indiana), first (2018, 11-8 W vs. Princeton at Bucknell) and first (2019, 10-6 W vs. Princeton at Brown) since 2001.