LEWISBURG, Pa. — The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan water polo team closed out the regular season with a one-sided affair, claiming a 14-5 win over George Washington University at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium. The win finished off a perfect 6-0 conference slate for the Maize & Blue.
Michigan jumped out on George Washington in the first half, leading 9-1 midway through the contest. U-M scored four goals in the first and five in the second, using the opportunity to get extensive minutes for its bench players.
The bench combined for six goals and six assists in the game. Freshman Erin Neustrom tied with senior Julia Sellers for the team high in goals, as both netted hat tricks. Neustrom had eight goals on eight shots in the three games this weekend and finished conference play with a perfect shooting percentage, converting all 15 of her shots into goals. Sellers scored a team-high 19 goals during conference play.
Freshman Kayla Barone dished out three assists and freshman Sidney Vranesh had two in the game. Freshman Abby Andrews tallied seven points on two goals and five assists to lead the team.
Junior Heidi Ritner made four saves and allowed just the one goal in the first half. She allowed just 16 goals in 147:27 during conference play for a 3.47 goals-against average and .698 save percentage. Junior Cameron Cordial played the second half and made two stops.
The Wolverines closed out the regular season on a seven-game win streak. Michigan has gone undefeated in conference play three of the last four years with a 28-1 record for this year’s senior class. U-M is 21-8 overall on the season.
In its six conference games, Michigan outscored its opponents, 95-22. The Wolverines allowed only nine goals in the first half (1.5 per game) during conference play.
Michigan is the No. 1 seed for the CWPA Championship, which will take place Friday-Sunday, April 26-28 in Providence, Rhode Island, at Brown University. The Wolverines will have a first-round bye and will play in the semifinals against the winner of the contest between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds on Saturday, April 27 at 2:30 p.m.
Release courtesy University of Michigan Athletics Communications
