LEWISBURG, Pa. — Led by the efforts of Maddy Steere and Maddie O’Reilly, the No. 7-ranked University of Michigan water polo team rolled past No. 22 Brown University in dominant fashion with a 14-7 win in a Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division I Championship semifinal game at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.
Michigan – which improves to 25-8 on the season – will face off against No. 17 Harvard University in the championship game on Sunday, April 24, at Noon.
In the first quarter of play, Sofie Pontré got the Wolverines on the board first with a punch-in goal from Erin Neustrom. Three minutes later, Ava Morrant found the back of the net to put Michigan up 2-0 over Brown. Steere scored her first of the game with 1:36 left in the first quarter, and Morrant’s second goal gave Michigan a 4-2 lead heading into the second quarter.
Kayla Barone scored the lone goal for Michigan in the second quarter with a shot from distance, and the Wolverines were up 5-3 over the Bears heading into halftime.
In the third quarter, Michigan outscored Brown 3-1, with tallies from Neustrom, O’Reilly and Pontré giving Michigan a four-goal lead, 8-4, heading into the final quarter.
The final quarter was all Steere, who scored the first four goals for Michigan. Her first, second, and fourth goals were bullets from a distance, while her third goal of the final quarter came from right in front of the net, pushing right past the Brown keeper. Kasey Umlauf and Jess Henningsen each netted a goal in the final two minutes of the game.
Steere finished with five goals, and O’Reilly added five assists.
On the defensive side, Alex Brown tallied 14 saves while allowing five goals in the win.
The victory permits Michigan to go for the program’s sixth consecutive CWPA Championship following wins in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 with the 2020 season lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the Wolverines are seeking their 11th CWPA Championship following previous championships in 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Release courtesy University of Michigan Athletics Communications
