ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan water polo team defended its home pool with an undefeated 4-0 record at the Wolverine Invitational in Canham Natatorium this weekend.
U-M earned two decisive wins on Sunday, March 3, in winning by 12 goals, 20-8, against No. 13 Fresno State University and seven scores, 16-9, versus No. 15 Long Beach State. In all, the Wolverines tallied 36 goals in the two games and had their two top scoring performances of the season.
Michigan found its offense against Fresno State, scoring a season-high 20 goals. It is the 10th time under head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi that Michigan has hit the 20-goal mark.
U-M recorded five goals in the first quarter and followed with six goals in both the second and third periods to build a 17-5 lead after three quarters. For the game, the Wolverines had a .588 shooting percentage.
Senior Julia Sellers led all scorers with five goals to match a career high. She was one of three players to net three goals or more. Junior Maddy Steere set new career highs with four assists and seven points to go with her three goals in the game. Junior Skyler Pyle also scored a season-high three goals and matched her career high with three assists for six points in the game.
Freshman Abby Andrews also contributed four points with two goals and two assists. Junior Heidi Ritner played the first three quarters with five saves and five goals allowed. Junior Cameron Cordial replaced her and made two saves in the fourth quarter.
The Wolverines had the offense rolling after the first game of the day and the goals kept on coming against Long Beach State.
Michigan came out of the gate hard with six goals in the first quarter. U-M held a shutout in the third quarter and scored seven additional goals after the first period to build a 13-4 advantage before Leonardi sat his starters for the duration of the fourth quarter.
The Wolverines’ bench had another impressive day with eight goals. Sophomore Maddie O’Reilly led the way with a career-high four goals to give her eight on the weekend.
The starters had a good weekend as well, as Sellers followed up her five-goal game with four more goals to finish with 13 scores in the four games of the tournament. Andrews scored one goal but did the most damage with her career-high six assists. The total matched the third most in a single game in school history.
Nine different players scored goals, the team drew 13 exclusions and had 10 steals. All available players appeared in games, including three goalkeepers. Sophomore Sara Campbell made her season debut with a save during her 1:44 of time in the fourth quarter.
Release courtesy University of Michigan Athletics Communications
