PRINCETON, N.J. — The No. 10-ranked University of Michigan water polo team started the day with a 9-8 setback against host/No. 16 Princeton University before bouncing back with an 18-6 victory over Saint Francis University at DeNunzio Pool to lock-up either the No. 2 or 3 seed for the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship.
Ari Karampetsou and Emma Gustafsson led the Wolverines, with each notching a hat trick in the first match-up and combining for 14 points throughout the two games.
The Wolverines and Tigers spent the first three-plus quarters trading goals, with the game tied at six-all after a Karampetsou goal with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. However, Princeton rattled off back-to-back goals courtesy of Vivian Golub to take an 8-6 lead. U-M got within one goal twice, but could not complete the comeback.
After both teams went scoreless in the first quarter, Maddy Scarth put the first tally on the scoreboard 31 seconds into the second. Gustafsson and Karampetsou scored the remaining goals in the first half, keeping Michigan within one of the Tigers, 3-2.
Gustafsson opened the second half with a penalty-shot goal with 5:20 remaining in the second to knot the game at three, then scored again to bring the Wolverines even at five-all with 6:50 to go in the final quarter.
Facing Saint Francis, the Wolverines pulled away from the Red Flash in the second quarter, scoring half of their 18 goals, with Scarth and Karampetsou posting two goals each and multiple assists. The upperclassmen took over, with Emilia Mladjan, Lulu Hirschfield, Kaia Levenfeld, Issy Jackson and Gustafsson putting away the remaining goals for U-M in the second quarter.
Karampetsou earned her second hat trick of the day, opening the scoring for the Maize and Blue and tying the game at one, followed by Claire Eusey and Jordan Schneider. After the scoring outburst in the second quarter, U-M held a 12-4 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Scarth and Hirschfield secured hat tricks of their own, with Jackson, Eusey and Gustafsson each getting their second goals and marking six Wolverines with multiple tallies against Saint Francis.
With the win, Michigan runs its all-time mark against Saint Francis to 18-0.
Michigan’s loss to Princeton creates a situation in which an April 4 clash between No. 22 Brown University and No. 11 Harvard University in Providence, R.I., will four of the seven seeds for the CWPA Championship on Friday-Sunday, April 10-12, at the University of Michigan. Bucknell University (No. 5), Mercyhurst University (No. 6) and Saint Francis (No. 7) solidified the final three positions for the championship based on their regular season records.
As Princeton and Michigan completed their league regular season dockets with 5-1 records, while No. 11 Harvard University holds a 4-1 mark, the outcome of the Brown-Harvard game will be the determining factor in where the Tigers, Wolverines, Crimson and Bears start at the CWPA Championship.
A win by Brown over Harvard will seed Princeton No. 1, Michigan No. 2, Brown No. 3 and Harvard No. 4 due to Princeton holding a head-to-head win versus Michigan and Brown then holding a head-to-head defeat of Harvard. However, if Harvard defeats Brown, then Harvard, Princeton and Michigan all hold 5-1 marks, while Brown slips to 3-3 to take the No. 4 seed. The tie between Harvard, Princeton and Michigan is broken by goal differential in their meetings with one another. Since Michigan defeated Harvard (14-13) and Princeton knocked off Michigan (9-8), Harvard claims the No. 1 seed in that case due to defeating Princeton 8-5. Princeton will then take the No. 2 seed due to its head-to-head victory over Michigan.
Information courtesy University of Michigan Athletics Communications
