PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Emma Gustafsson (So., Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) returned home to New England and rampaged for six goals to claim Player of the Game recognition as the Wolverines of No. 16-ranked the University of Michigan turned out the lights of the Saint Francis University Red Flash, 20-10, on the first day of the 2025 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship.
Competing at Brown University’s Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center, the Maize & Blue (18-10, 9-3 CWPA) punched the program’s ticket back into the semifinals as Michigan will take on No. 15 Harvard University – a 20-5 victor versus Mercyhurst University earlier in the day – at 3:00 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, April 26.
The game will mark the third meeting of the year between the programs as Michigan stymied Harvard by a 9-7 score on March 16 at San Diego State University in a neutral site league game after suffering a 14-3 setback on February 23 in Cambridge, Mass.
Michigan – which has previously finished fifth (2001), first (2002, 7-6 W OT SD vs. Hartwick College at Princeton University), third (2003), second (2004, 5-2 L vs. Hartwick at Bucknell University), first (2005, 8-7 W at Indiana University), 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 University), 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), first (2019, 10-6 W vs. Princeton at Brown), first (2021, 12-5 W vs. Bucknell at home), first (2022, 10-4 W vs. Harvard at Bucknell), third (2023) and second (2024, 10-9 L vs. Princeton at Harvard) at the CWPA Championship – is guaranteed to finish no lower than Fourth Place in the 2025 edition of the event due to qualifying for the semifinals.
The semifinal marks the third time in as many years the Maize & Blue and Crimson will clash at the CWPA Championship. In 2023 at Princeton, the Wolverines fell to Harvard (9-8 L) and topped Saint Francis (16-6 W) to take third place. The defeat by Harvard marked the first time Michigan was defeated in CWPA Championship tournament play since 2015 when the team dropped overtime games versus Indiana (9-8 L OT) and Hartwick (11-10 L OT) to finish in fourth place at Princeton. Last year at Harvard in a six-team field, the Wolverines took down the host Crimson (12-7 W) prior to suffering a 10-9 setback against Princeton for the championship.
The path back to the semifinals for Michigan did not appear destined to be a 10-goal win as the Red Flash held their own against the 16-time CWPA Championship title game qualifiers to keep the Maize & Blue within striking distance until a 7-1 outburst by the Wolverines over the final 12:36 of competition.
Sophia Panossian (So., Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos) drew first blood as she sank a shot 24 seconds into the first quarter to stake Michigan to a 1-0 lead. Sam Eschleman (So., Reading, Pa./Muhlenberg) balanced the scoreboard 18 seconds later, but a three-goal spurt by the designated home team courtesy tallies by Ari Karampetsou (Fr., Athens, Greece/Costeas Geitonas School) (6:58; 4:44, penalty shot) and Panossian (6:13) pushed UM in front to stay at 4-1.
Eschleman (4:01) and Lucia Redaelli (Fr., Bologna, Italy) (2:34, man-up) closed the gap between the teams to 4-3, but Gustafsson (2:19) fired in a response prior to the close of the opening frame to expand Michigan’s lead to 5-3.
Issy Jackson (Jr., Auckland, New Zealand/Diocesan Schools for Girls) doubled-up SFU at 6-3 by finding the twine with 27 seconds (7:33) into the second quarter. Kayla Rhoads (Sr., Oceanside, Calif./El Camino) (5:53), Eschleman (3:38) and Megan Marlin (So., Flower Mound, Texas/Marcus) (1:38) attempted to chip away at the Red Flash’s deficit over the remainder of the first half, but Jillian Schlom (So., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona Del Mar) (5:38), Claire Eusey (Jr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona Del Mar) (2:49) and Gustafsson (33 seconds) answered each strike to set the scoreboard at 9-6 by the conclusion of 16 minutes.
Jackson added to Michigan’s lead by wailing in a score with 7:37 left in the third quarter, but Eschleman delivered a counterpoint 16 seconds later (7:21) before Caylah Olay (Jr., Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union) swished a man-up chance at 5:43 to shrink the Maize & Blue’s lead to 10-8.
Karampetsou returned the Wolverines’ lead to a trio by denting the twine at 4:52 to establish an 11-8 spread.
Following a protest for a misapplication of a rule on a penalty shot, Marlin rifled in the ensuing five-meter redo at 4:36 to once again put the Red Flash on the doorstep of a comeback as the score shrank Michigan’s lead to 11-9.
The correctable error and resulting Saint Francis score ignited Michigan’s offense as Gustafsson (4:06; 2:38; 1:54, man-up) went on a tear to torched the Red Flash with back-to-back-to-back goals to expand the spread to 14-9. Maiken Pardon (Sr., Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa) inflicted the final nick of the third quarter by spinning a ball into the cage with 1:17 on the clock for a 15-9 Wolverines’ scoreboard advantage heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
Schlom (6:34) slammed the door on a SFU comeback by swishing her teams’ 16th strike with 6:34 on the fourth quarter clock to expand the margin to 16-9.
Eschleman attempted to ignite Saint Francis for a comeback run by converting an even-strength opportunity at 6:17, but Kaia Levenfeld (So., Moraga, Calif./Campolindo) (5:20, 2:53), Gustafsson (4:02) and Jordan Schneider (So. Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach) (2:16) combined for a 4-0 ouburst in the waning minutes of the game to establish the 20-10 final score.
Saint Francis – which will return to the water at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, against Mercyhurst in the consolation side of the seven-team bracket prior to clashing with the fallen from another first round game pitting host/No. 20 Brown and Bucknell University at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 27 – received five goals from Eschleman and a pair by Marlin to accompany solo tallies by Redaelli, Rhoads and Olay. Goalkeeper Isabel Lumley (Sr., Brisbane, Australia/Brisbane Girles Grammar School) made nine saves in taking the loss.
Gusafsson (six), Karampetsou (three), Jackson (two), Schlom (two), Panossian (two) and Levenfeld (two) all posted multi-goal games for the Wolverines with Pardon, Schneider and Eusey chipping in solo markers. Madie Ambrose (Jr., Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) made four saves guarding the cage.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Saint Francis University (13-17, 2-10 CWPA) |
3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | 10 |
| No. 16 University of Michigan (18-10, 9-3 CWPA) | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | – | 20 |
| Michigan Goals: | Emma Gustafsson (6); Ari Karampetsou (3); Issy Jackson (2): Jillian Schlom (2); Sophia Panossian (2); Kaia Levenfeld (2); Maiken Pardon; Jordan Schneider; Claire Eusey | |||||
| SFU Goals: | Sam Eschleman (5); Megan Marlin (2); Lucia Redaelli; Kayla Rhoads; Caylah Olay | |||||
| Saves: | Michigan – Madie Ambrose (4) ; SFU – Isabel Lumley (9) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Michigan – 14 ; SFU – 6 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Michigan – 2-for-6 ; SFU – 2-for-14 | |||||
| Sprints: | Michigan – 4-for-4 ; SFU – 0-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | SFU – YC (Head coach Jay O’Neil, 4:36 left in 3rd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Tony Karaman, Easton Honaker | |||||
The University of Michigan’s Brooke Ingram (#12) defends against Saint Francis University’s Breeze Ohlson (#2)
The University of Michigan’s Ari Karampetsou (#11) rises to shoot against Saint Francis University
