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No. 15 Hartwick Goes 2-0, Downs No. 14 Michigan to Highlight Day 1 of Elite Six Tournament
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- No. 15 Hartwick College knocked off No. 14 and defending Eastern Champion University of Michigan 9-7 in the tourney opener to highlight Day 1 of the 2009 Elite Six Tournament hosted by Bucknell University.
In the tournament opener, a rematch of the 2008 Eastern Championship final, Hartwick used two fourth-quarter goals to edge out Michigan.
Hartwick scored first at 6:12 and held onto that lead for a minute and a half until Chatigny skipped home a shot with 4:40 remaining in the period.
The Hawks opened up a 3-1 lead on two goals inside the last two minutes, but a Michigan goal by Cara Reitz with 18 seconds left kept the Wolverines within one.
Michigan tied the game midway through the second period with Julie Hyrne slamming the ball into the cage. Hartwick was able to rattle off two goals inside the last minute, but a Hyrne goal in the last second kept U-M within one at a 5-4 score. Just as time was about to expire, Hyrne pushed the ball away from a charging Hawks netminder and just over the line for a score.
Michigan's Keller Felt and Reitz bookended a Hartwick power-play goal in the third period to knot things at 6-6 late in the frame. Leah Robertson gave the Wolverines its last lead of the contest on a hook shot over a defender and in with 1:11 remaining. Hartwick ended the contest with three unanswered goals, however, including two in the final frame to get the 9-7 victory.
Kirsten Hudson led the way for the Hawks in the game netting a hat-trick with three goals, while Barbara Amaro led three Hartwick players with two goals. Reitz and Hyrne led the Wolverines with pairs of goals as five Michigan players found the back of the cage.
Hartwick concluded its 2-0 opening day of the tournament with an 8-6 win over Princeton University, while No. 20 Maryland went 1-1 knocking off Harvard University 11-7 and falling to Michigan 9-8.
Harvard also finished 1-1 with a loss to Maryland and an 11-9 win over Bucknell University, while Princeton and Bucknell both finished 0-1.
A complete list of results is available on Bucknell's website here, or the Collegiate Water Polo Association site here.
