Colton Buries Five as No. 7 Michigan Downs Harvard 18-10 in Eastern Championship Opening Round

Keller Felt

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Lauren Colton (Fr., Tustin, Calif./Tesoro) scored five goals and Leah Robertson (Sr., Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) added four to lead eight University of Michigan scorers as the No. 7 ranked Wolverines managed Harvard University 18-10 in the opening round and game of the 2010 Women's Eastern Championship at the University of Maryland.

The eight-goal margin-of-victory is relatively deceiving as the Wolverines struggled out of the starting gate before using a nine-goal second period to double-up the Crimson 12-6 by halftime.

Harvard jumped out to the early lead in the first period as Shannon Purcell (So., Danville, Calif./Monte Vista) lined a shot into the cage on a man-up opportunity just 55 seconds into the contest.  Robertson back-handed a shot from the hole 19 seconds later with 6:46 showing on the game-clock to make it 1-1 and tallied a score off an exclusion opportunity with 4:50 left in the period to give the Wolverines a 2-1 lead.

The lead lasted for 19 seconds as Aisha Price (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) broke through the Michigan defense and uncorked a rising shot from the left-wing to knot the game at 2-2.  Harvard went back in front at the 2:23 mark with an eight-meter skip shot by Ita Barton-Kettleborough (So., Manchester, England/St. Bede's College) to make it 3-2, but Colton got on the scoreboard 18 seconds later with a rollway shot in the hole to even the damage at 3-3 through eight minutes of play.

Michigan's offense sparked and ignited off Colton's marker and some defensive pressure as Alison Mantel (Jr., Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) and Keller Felt (Jr., La Jolla, Calif./La Jolla) racked up two-on-one counter goals at 7:04 and 6:30, respectively, of the second period to put the Wolverines in front to stay.  Felt chipped in another two-on-one counter goal at 5:52 to make it 6-3 before Sarah Roberts (Jr., Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor) cashed in on a pulling back exclusion against Devan Kennifer (So., Monterey, Calif./Santa Catalina) to build the lead to four at 7-3 with a man-up tally with 5:03 left in the first half.

The onslaught ended following a man-up goal by Robertson at 3:59 as Monica Zdrojewski (So., Irvine, Calif./Dana Hills) found the back of the cage for the Crimson with a man-up goal at 3:33 to move Harvard to within 8-4. 

However, Michigan outscored Harvard 4-2 down the stretch in dramatic fashion to carry a six goal lead at 12-6 into halftime.

Kiki Golden (Fr., Danville, Calif./Monte Vista) started the run to the halftime horn with a power-play marker at the 3:12 mark, while Colten tacked on point-blank shot from two-meters who dented the twine  at 1:40 to make it a 10-4 game. 

Purcell inched the Crimson to within five with a man-up goal at 1:04, but Colten tossed a shot into the cage one second following the conclusion of a Michigan man-up chance with 27 seconds left in the first half to restore Michigan to a six-goal lead.  Harvard moved back to within four scores as Price scored on a Crimson man-up opportunity, but the Wolverines would not be denied a six-goal lead at intermission as Colten tossed a half-tank shot up and into the cage as the half horn sounded for a 12-6 Wolverines' advantage through 16-minutes.

The lead was too much for eighth-seeded Harvard to overcome as the Nothern Division third-place finishers failed to rally back against the Western Division champion  and No. 1 seed Wolverines to continue a legacy of eight seeds never defeating a No. 1 seed at the Eastern Championship.

For Harvard, Barton-Kettleborough led the way with a hat-trick, while Price and Purcell registered pairs of markers to highlight six Crimson scorers.

In cage, the Wolverines stopped 10 Crimson shots as Alex Adamson (Fr., Coronado, Calif./Coronado) picked up nine stops in earning the victory, while Brittany May (Sr., Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) recorded one save in the closing moments of the contest.  For Harvard, Laurel McCarthy (So., Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) notched six saves.

Michigan will continue the tournament at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 1 against the victor of a first round contest between No. Bucknell University and Princeton University in the first of two semifinal games.  The Crimson will mee the loser of the Bucknell-Princeton game at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow with a berth in the fifth place game at stake.

Michigan Goals: Lauren Colton (5); Leah Robertson (4); Sarah Roberts (2); Keller Felt (2); Kiki Golden (2); Alison Mantel; Meagan Cobb; Cara Reitz

Harvard Goals: Ita Barton-Kettleborough (3); Aisha Price (2); Shannon Purcell (2); Devan Kennifer; Elisa Molnar; Monica Zdrojewski

Saves: Michigan - Alex Adamson (9), Brittany May (1) ; Harvard - Laurel McCarthy (6)

Exclusions: Michigan - 9 ; Harvard -10

Advantage Opportunities: Michigan - 6-for-10 ; Harvard - 5-for-9

Sprints: Michigan - 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 3rd) ; Harvard- 1-for-4 (4th)

Aisha Price shoots-and-scores on Alex Adamson in the first period