BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Former and future Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) student-athletes Abby Andrews (University of Michigan), Amy Ridge (University of Michigan), Bronwen Knox (Hartwick College), Shae (Fournier) La Roche (Indiana University), Boati Motau (Bucknell University), Hanna Muller (Lindenwood University) and Ashleigh Johnson (Princeton University) opened the 2020/2021 Olympics at the Tatsumi Water Polo Centre in Tokyo on Saturday, July 24.
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United States 25, Japan 4 (Ashleigh Johnson)
For the two-time defending Olympic Gold Medalists from the United States, Princeton University alumna Ashleigh Johnson was rock solid in cage to turn away 15-of-19 shots faced as the Americans rolled over Japan 25-4 in Group B competition. Team USA pulled out to an 8-3 lead by the conclusion of the first quarter and outscored the host nation 6-0, 7-1 and 4-0 over the second, third and fourth quarters, respectively, to pull away for a record-setting win.
Japan, competing in its first Olympic tournament, appeared primed to hang with the 2012 and 2016 Olympic champions by drawing level with the U.S. at three-all with 3:39 left in the first quarter. However, Team USA ripped off five goals over the remaining moments in the first quarter and Johnson blanked Japan in the second quarter to allow the United States to acquire a 14-3 lead by halftime. Japan did not score against Johnson again until the 5:25 mark of the third quarter to pull back to within 13 goals at 17-4.
Overall, the United States established Olympic records for goals in a game (25), margin of victory (21) and goals in an opening half (14).
About Ashleigh Johnson: Johnson is among only two Tigers’ athletes ever to win an Olympic gold medal (in 2016) and then come back to compete at Princeton (former United States Senator/men’s basketball player Bill Bradley was the other).
The C. Otto von Kienbusch and Cutino Awards during her senior season in 2017, she was the first player in Princeton women’s water polo history to be named first team All-America and third ever to be selected All-America in each of her four seasons. Johnson finished her Princeton career with a 100-17 record, along with a school-record 1,362 saves and a .693 save percentage. She was a 19-time CWPA Defensive Player of the Week award winner, a four-time first-team all-conference player and the CWPA Player of the Year.
Johnson’s appearance at the Olympics marks the fourth time in the past four games that the United States’ cage will be defended by a CWPA alumna as University of Michigan graduate and CWPA Hall of Fame member Betsey Armstrong was the goalie for the 2008 Silver Medal and 2012 Gold Medal squads.
Australia 8, Canada 5 (Abby Andrews, Bronwen Knox, Amy Ridge, Shae La Roche)
Abby Andrews and Bronwen Knox, formerly of the University of Michigan and Hartwick College, both scored in the second quarter as Australia used 4-2 and 2-1 runs in the second and third quarters to outlast Canada, 8-5, in Group A action.
Andrews scored at the 6:38 mark of the second quarter to make it 3-1 prior to Knox following at 3:30 to expand the margin to 4-1.
Overall, Knox came off the bench to play 11:01 and shoot one-for-two, while Andrews played 16:55 off the bench and went one-for-one from the field.
In addition, former Michigan athlete Amy Ridge played 14:14 with two shot attempts for Australia.
On the other end of the tank, Indiana University alum Shae (Fournier) La Roche played 18:32 for Canada and did not get off a shot.
About Shae La Roche: A 2014 graduate of Indiana, La Roche (2011-2014) is one of the most decorated players in Hoosiers’ water polo history. She holds the top two school records for single-season goals (95 in 2014, 83 in 2013) and career goals (305), and is second in IU history in career steals (311). She was the 2014 CWPA Player of the Year, and earned second team Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America and College Sport Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) First-Team Academic All-America honors. La Roche is one of five players in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) history to score 300 or more goals in her career.
The Most Valuable Player of the 2014 CWPA Championship hosted by Bucknell University for leading the Hoosiers to an 11-10 victory over Princeton University, La Roche is among a select group of Indiana women’s water polo players who won a pair of league titles during their tenure. In 2011 as a freshman, La Roche helped her squad down the University of Michigan, 5-3, at home in Bloomington for the program’s first title since taking home the 2003 crown.
She had an impressive junior international career, winning gold medals at the 2008 and 2010 Pan American Junior Championships to go with a sixth place finish at the 2009 FINA World Junior Championships. At the senior level, she competed in two FINA World Championships (2015, 2017) and captured a silver medal at the 2017 FINA World League Super Final. She also helped Canada win silver at the 2015 Pan American Games. She has made two appearances at the Summer Universiade, just missing the podium with fourth place finishes in both 2009 and 2013. She made her senior international debut in 2014, competing in the FINA Water Polo World League.
About Amy Ridge: Ridge competed for Michigan during the 2016 as a freshman. In 38 games, she tallied 20 goals and 10 assists and helped the Wolverines claim the 2016 CWPA Championship and a Fourth Place mark at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.
About Bronwen Knox: The captain of the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Australia Olympic Women’s Water Polo teams and a two-time Olympic Bronze Medalist (2008, 2012), Knox is the only player in the history of the Hartwick College women’s water polo program to earn second team All-America honors from the ACWPC. She helped guide the Hawks to a record of 56-20, two CWPA Northern Division titles, a CWPA Eastern crown and a sixth-place finish at the 2006 NCAA Division I Championship during her two seasons in Oneonta, N.Y.
Following her freshman campaign in 2005, she was the CWPA Northern and Eastern Championship Rookie of the Year, a first team CWPA Northern and Eastern selection, and was an ACWPC Honorable Mention All-America selection. In 2006, Knox led the country in scoring with 127 tallies and was later named Most Valuable Player of both the Northern Division and Eastern Championships. She also earned ACWPC All-Academic team honors and received second team All-America accolades.
A 2012 inductee to the Hartwick Hall of Fame, she totaled 229 goals, 57 assists, 286 points, 209 steals as a member of the Hawks, including program single-season record 127 goals and 117 steals in 2006.
About Abby Andrews: Andrews competed for Michigan during the 2019 season and registered 57 goals, 71 assists and 47 steals with a 41-for-50 mark in sprints in the span of 32 games. A member of the 2019 CWPA Champion Wolverines, she claimed CWPA Rookie of the Year and ACWPC Honorable Mention All-America honors during her lone season in Ann Arbor. A 2019 CWPA All-Conference Second Team pick, she received Rookie of the Tournament and First Team All-Tournament recognition at the CWPA Championship prior to helping the Maize & Blue reach the NCAA Championship quarterfinals.
Spain 29, South Africa 4 (Boati Motau, Hanna Muller)
The United States record for most goals in a game lasted until the end of the day as Spain posted 29 strikes to defeat incoming Bucknell University recruit Boati Motau, former Lindenwood University athlete Hanna Muller and South Africa, 29-4, in Group A competition.
Spain jumped out to a 5-2 lead by the conclusion of the first quarter and led 14-3 by halftime to tie the United States’ record established in its victory over Japan earlier in the day. Leading 19-4 at the end of the third quarter, Spain established a new Olympic record for most goals (29) and margin of victory (25 goals) eclipsing the USA marks (25 goals, 21 goals).
Motau played 13:15 with a pair of shots, while Muller notched a pair of shots in 20:27.
About Boati Motau: Motau will join the Bucknell program after a decorated career at the Roedean School in South Africa. Motau was named the 2020 Sports Woman of the Year, while earning Full Colours in both field hockey and water polo (Varsity letters) in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Motau earned First Team All-State accolades while helping the Roedean School to a third-place National finish in 2020.
A three-sport athlete at the school in water polo, field hockey, and swimming, Motau has represented the South African squad at youth level since 2018, helping the U17 team to a second-place showing at the EU Nations Water Polo Cup in 2019. Motau was also the team captain in both field hockey and water polo at Roedean in 2019-20, helping the water polo squad to two straight top-three finishes ad the Old Mutual Prestige Cup.
About Hanna Muller: A two-time Women’s Collegiate Club All-America selection at Lindenwood, Muller previously represented her homeland at the 2018 FINA Women’s World Cup in Surgut, Russia.
Muller, who competed for Lindenwood in 2018 and 2019, is the lone former/current collegiate club player believed to be competing at the 2021 Olympics, Muller earned All-Midwest Division First Team honors as a sophomore in 2019 to accompany All-America Second Team status. Muller also helped Midwest Division Champion Lindenwood earn a Fifth Place finish at the 2019 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Notre Dame earned All-Tournament Second Team laurels.
As a freshman in 2018, she claimed positions on the All-America and Midwest Division All-Conference Second Teams following a season in which she led Midwest Division Champion Lindenwood with 59 goals to accompany 34 assists and 61 steals. A National Collegiate Club Championship All-Tournament Second Team selection, she scored 10 goals in four games to help Lindenwood finish in Fourth Place at the event hosted by the University of Washington at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Ore.
