PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Player of the Game Emma Mladjan (So., Brookfield, Ill./Lyons Township) scored four times as No. 16-ranked the University of Michigan claimed Third Place at the 2025 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship with a 14-8 defeat of Bucknell University at Brown University’s Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center.
The third place finish marks the fifth bronze medal finish for the Wolverines (19-11, 9-3 CWPA) following prior first (2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022), second (2006, 2011, 2013, 2024), third (2003, 2012, 2014, 2023), fourth (2007, 2015), fifth (2001) placements at the CWPA Championship.
Bucknell (15-14, 4-8 CWPA) earns the program’s second fourth place mark at the CWPA Championship after previously claiming second (2021), third (2019), fourth (2006), fifth (2010, 2016, 2018), sixth (2008, 2014, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024), seventh (2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015), eighth (2003, 2012), ninth (2000) and 11th (2002) since 2000 in the many versions of the CWPA/Eastern Championship.
The Maize & Blue never trailed in the game as Brooke Ingram (Jr., Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos) and Maiken Pardon (Sr., Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa) buried even-strength (6:12) and man-up (4:18) goals, respectively, to open the contest. Hayden Hedstrom (Fr., Bolton, Mass./Williston Northampton) responded for the Bison to close the gap between the squads to 2-1, but Mladjan (3:12) and Sophia Panossian (So., Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos) (51 seconds) closed out the opening eight minutes with consecutive strikes to cushion the Wolverines’ margin to 4-1.
Olivia Hopper (Fr., Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) converted a six-on-five chance with 6:45 left in the second quarter to close the spread to 4-2 prior to Lulu Hirschfield (Jr., San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) (6:37, man-up) and Ingram (2:15) finishing the first half with back-to-back markers as Michigan inflated its lead to 6-2 at the contest’s midway point.
Mladjan tacked on another tally 34 seconds into the third quarter (7:26) to engorge the Maize & Blue’s scoreboard advantage to 7-2, but the remainder of the third quarter was the domain of the herd as Hopper hammered home man-up (6:59) and penalty shots (6:09, 5:37) to shrink Michigan’s lead to 7-5 heading into the fourth quarter.
Hopper swished her fourth consecutive strike 22 seconds into the fourth quarter by drilling in another power-play bid (7:38) to put Bucknell on the doorstep of completing a comeback at 7-6.
However, Michigan terminated any hopes of the Bison continuing their rally as Ari Karampetsou (Fr., Athens, Greece/Costeas Geitonas School) (6:44; 5:23, man-up; 4:19), Kasey Umlauf (Gr., Northfield, Ill./New Trier Township) (5:59, man-up) and Kaia Levenfeld (So., Moraga, Calif./Campolindo) (3:10) combined for a five-goal flurry to double-up Bucknell at 12-6 with approximately three minutes left to play in regulation.
The surge and the Wolverines’ defense were too much for the Bison to overcome down the stretch as man-up (2:52) and natural (1:49) scores by Hopper were met by the same from Mladjan (2:35, even-strength; 1:57, man-up) as the Maize & Blue added another Third Place plaque to the program’s list of accomplishments.
For Bucknell, Hopper accounted for seven of her team’s eight tallies with Hedtrom chipping in the other marker. Goalkeeper Tamara Torkos (So., Budapest, Hungary/Boldog Adolf Kolping Katolikus Általános, Gimnázium és Sportgimnázium) turned aside 11 Michigan scoring tries in taking the loss between the pipes.
Mladjan (four), Karampetou (three) and Ingram (two) exceeded the Bison’s offense output with nine combined goals, while Umlauf, Panossian, Hirschfield, Levenfeld and Pardon contributed insurance strikes to aid a combined eight save performance by netminders Sophia Bunnell (Fr., Coto de Caza, Calif./Mater Dei) (seven) and Katie Delaney (So., Winthrop Heights, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) (one).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Bucknell University (15-14, 4-8 CWPA) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | – | 8 |
| No. 16 University of Michigan (19-11, 9-3 CWPA) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | – | 14 |
| Michigan Goals: | Emilia Mladjan (4); Ari Karampetsou (3); Brooke Ingram (2); Kasey Umlauf; Sophia Panossian; Lulu Hirschfield; Kaia Levenfeld; Maiken Pardon | |||||
| Bucknell Goals: | Olivia Hopper (7); Hayden Hedstrom | |||||
| Saves: | Michigan – Sophia Bunnell (7), Katie Delaney (1); Bucknell – Tamara Torkos (11) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Michigan – 17 ; Bucknell – 12 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Michigan – 5-for-12 ; Bucknell – 6-for-17 | |||||
| Sprints: | Michigan – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 3rd) ; Bucknell – 1-for-4 (4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Tony Karaman, Mosaab Omar | |||||
Bucknell University’s Caitlin Stott (#7) & the University of Michigan’s Emma Gustafsson (#14)
The University of Michigan’s Brooke Ingram (#12) and Bucknell University’s Campbell Collins (#2)
2025 Collegiate Water Polo Association Championship Third Place – University of Michigan
2025 Collegiate Water Polo Association Championship Third Place – University of Michigan
