LORETTO, Pa. — The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan water polo team put a cap on a perfect weekend, taking down host/No. 25 Saint Francis University, 13-5, and Mount St. Mary’s University, 16-2, at SFU’s Stoke Natatorium.
In its four CWPA games this weekend, U-M outscored the competition by a 66-13 margin as the Wolverines downed No. 23 Bucknell University, 16-5, and Mount St Mary’s, 21-1, yesterday at Kinney Natatorium in Lewisburg.
Like it did yesterday, Michigan was red hot out of the gate in game one to overwhelm Saint Francis on the offensive end. Sophomore Anne Rankin and senior Maddie O’Reilly combined for five goals in the first quarter, including a hat trick for O’Reilly on three consecutive possessions. U-M led 5-0 after the opening eight minutes.
Goals from junior Erin Neustrom and freshman Libby Alsemgeest extended the lead to 7-0 before Saint Francis broke the shutout. Sophomore Alex Brown made a beautiful stop to deny a one-on-one opportunity inside of a minute left in the second quarter. On the other end, junior Kayla Barone deposited a goal with three seconds left to give U-M an 8-1 lead at the break.
Senior Sofie Pontré had three chances in close range, seeing an initial shot saved, then following it up with a shot off the post. But she was quick to react the third time, tapping it into the net to make it 9-1. Senior Kathy Rogers added a goal of her own, capitalizing on good position around the net. The Red Flash put three into the net to make the score 10-4 heading into the fourth quarter.
The hosts skipped one past junior Sophie Jackson to come within five, but the Wolverines shut it down from there. Back-to-back goals from O’Reilly — including one on the powerplay — and a powerplay goal from graduate student Emily Byrne capped the scoring at 13-5.
Michigan wasted little time in game two versus Mount St. Mary’s as the Maize & Blue jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first quarter. Rankin and junior Ava Morrant put the first two goals in before the Mount answered to make it 2-1. O’Reilly and Barone provided an answer with two goals.
O’Reilly and freshman Lola Ciruli scored in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter, forcing a Mount St. Mary’s timeout. The onslaught continued, as Alsemgeest (twice), freshman Elise Walker and freshman Kata Utassy chipped in goals to make it 10-1 at halftime.
Utassy netted her second in the opening minute of the third quarter, followed by a powerplay goal from Ciruli. Alsemgeest completed the hat trick to make it 13-2.
Fourth-quarter scorers included Pontré, Ciruli (for the hat trick) and Byrne (on the powerplay).
Release courtesy University of Michigan Athletics Communications
