LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The No. 9-ranked University of Michigan water polo team ran its win streak to 15 games as it defeated host/No. 11-ranked Loyola Marymount University, 13-3, and followed it up with a 12-8 victory over No. 21 San Jose State University at the LMU Invitational. It is the sixth time in school history the Wolverines have compiled 15 or more consecutive wins.
With a perfect 4-0 showing at the LMU Invite, the Wolverines ended the non-conference portion of their schedule. Michigan will head into CWPA conference play with a 22-7 overall record.
Against No. 11 LMU the Wolverines acquired an early spark from junior Kim Johnson, who scored two goals in the first 1:09 of the contest. Freshman Kathy Rogers also had two goals in the opening period as U-M jumped out to a 5-1 lead after eight minutes as they scored on five of their eight shots.
Things cooled a bit offensively in the second quarter as both teams scored one goal. Senior Caroline Anderson scored for the Wolverines at the 4:34 mark for their only goal of the period.
The Lions cut the lead to three in the third period, but that was as close as Loyola Marymount would get as Michigan went on a 7-0 run over the final 13:53 minutes of the game.
Sophomore Maddy Steere scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter and recorded her eighth hat trick of the season. Johnson had a career-high five steals to go with her two goals. Anderson had three more assists in addition to her goal.
LMU was held to just three goals, the 12th time this season U-M has held its opponent to five goals or fewer. Sophomore goalkeeper Heidi Ritner had five saves and four steals in 28 minutes to earn the win.
No. 21 San Jose State played Michigan tough, but another good start helped the Wolverines complete the weekend with a 4-0 record.
Johnson tallied the first two goals for the Maize and Blue for the second straight game. U-M did not allow a goal in the first quarter and built a 6-0 lead as it headed into the second with the help of two scores from Rogers.
The Spartans scored four of the next five goals to cut the lead to 7-4, but freshman Sofie Pontré closed the first half on a high note with a skip shot from the outside with five seconds left to send the Wolverines into halftime with an 8-4 advantage.
Michigan got the first two goals of the third quarter with Julia Sellers and Steere each putting in their second of the game. Steere had two penalty-shot goals with both penalties being drawn by Johnson.
San Jose State scored four of the next five to cut it to 11-8 in the fourth quarter, but the U-M defense held and Johnson finished off her hat trick to make it a 12-8 final.
Steere also contributed three steals to her two goals. Johnson ended up drawing five exclusions for the game. Ritner played the entire game in the cage with eight saves, two assists and one steal.
Information courtesy University of Michigan Athletics Communications
