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No. 7 Michigan Captures Third Straight Eastern Title with 7-5 Victory over No. 14 Indiana
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- For the first time in the modern era of the Collegiate Water Polo Association, a team has claimed three Eastern Championship titles as No. 7-ranked the University of Michigan downed Western Division rival Indiana 7-5 for the 2010 championship at Maryland's Eppley Recreation Center.
Michigan becomes the first team to capture three consecutive titles since Slippery Rock University achieved the feat from 1988-96. The Wolverines previously defeated Hartwick College in 2008 and 2009, and now hold five Eastern crowns after knocking off Hartwick (2002) and Indiana (2005). Overall, during the past seven seasons, Michigan has appeared in five title games with losses to Hartwick (2004, 2006) the only blemishes on their seven overall title game appearances.
The No. 1 seed in the tournament and the top-ranked program outside California, Michigan used a four-for-nine performance on man-up opportunities to overpower the Hoosiers and its third straight trip to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship at San Diego State University in two weeks.
Michigan jumped on the board first as Meagan Cobb (So., Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville) tickled the twine on a man-up chance at the 4:49 mark of the first period. Indiana tied the game slightly over two minutes later when Nicole Redder (Jr., Grandville, Mich./Jenison) broke loose from her defender and fired a power-play tally at 2:44 to knot the game at one-all through a period of play.
The decisive period of play was the second as the Wolverines outscored Indiana 4-1 to take a 5-2 lead into halftime and build psychological momentum to hold off a Hoosiers' rally late in the game.
However, it was Indiana that struck first in the period as Jakie Kohli (So., Burnaby, B.C./Moscrop Secondary) netted a score off an exclusion opportunity at 5:29 to give the Hoosiers a 2-1 lead. The advantage was short-lived as Tournament Most Valuable Player Leah Robertson (Sr., Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) willed herself to the cage on a power-play breakaway to whip a shot into the cage and fire-up the Wolverines' offense.
The goal started a 4-0 run to the halftime horn as Ryley Plunkett (Jr., Modesto, Calif./Johansen) connected on a shot off an exclusion chance at 3:51 to put the Wolverines back in front at 3-2. Lauren Orth (Jr., Poway, Calif./Poway) followed with a five-meter penalty shot at 3:15 and Alison Mantel (Jr., Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) blasted a shot from the outside with 11 ticks on the game clock to make it 5-2 at the break.
Needing a comeback in hopes of upsetting the Wolverines, Indiana turned to Redder who picked up a loose ball and lined a shot into the upper 90 of the cage to make it 5-3 with 6:05 left in the third period. The gap closed to a single marker at the period's closing horn as Kohli collapsed the Wolverines' defense with a fake drive and lasered a shot from nine-meters out that drew nothing but net to set the game at 5-4 with a period to play.
Facing the potential for overtime, Michigan used a backhander from Rookie of the Tournament Kiki Golden (Fr., Danville, Calif./Monte Vista) to cushion the lead, net the eventual game-winner and push the margin out to two goals at 6-4 with 5:04 on the clock. However, Indiana would not go quietly into the offseason as Kara Butler (Jr., Poway, Calif./Poway) spun her defender in the hole and zipped a shot past Michigan netminder Alex Adamson (Fr., Coronado, Calif./Coronado) at 1:50 to make it a one-goal game at 6-5.
Unfortunately for Indiana, the clock and the Michigan defense were too much to overcome as Orth added a successful eight-meter shot at 1:32, Adamson and the Wolverines locked down in the midfield of the tank and the clock kept winding down on the Hoosiers' season on the way to the 7-5 final.
Adamson finished with eight saves as she joins CWPA Hall of Fame member Betsey Armstrong (2002) and teammate Brittany May (Sr., Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) (2005) as freshmen goalies to lead the Wolverines to an Eastern title.
For Indiana, Cassie Wyckoff (So., Los Altos, Calif./Los Altos) stopped six shots in taking the loss, while Redder and Kohli led the squad in scoring with two goals each.
Following the game, Indiana head coach Barry King was recognized as the "Doc Hunkler" Coach of the Tournament, while Robertson and Golden were honored as the tournament's Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Tournament, respectively.
Robertson became the third Wolverine named Eastern Championship MVP in program history. She joins Betsey Armstrong (2005) and Julie Hyrne (2008) as the only players to capture the honor for the Maize and Blue. She joins Hyrne as the only U-M players to take home both the division MVP award and postseason MVP award in the same season.
In addition, the All-Tournament Teams were announced with the following players honored:
First Team
Leah Robertson, University of Michigan
Alison Mantel, University of Michigan
Kirsten Hudson, Hartwick College
Nicole Redder, Indiana University
Kara Butler, Indiana University
Lauren Presant, Brown University
Cassie Wyckoff (Goalie), Indiana University
Second Team
Lauren Colton, University of Michigan
Kandis Canonica, Bucknell University
Lauren Wyckoff, Indiana University
Lauren Brunner, Princeton University
Devan Kennifer, Harvard University
Phoebe Champion, Princeton University
Stephanie Laing (Goalie), Brown University
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| No. 14 Indiana University | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | -- | 5 |
| No. 7 University of Michigan | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | -- | 7 |
Michigan Goals: Lauren Orth (2); Meagan Cobb; Kiki Golden; Alison Mantel; Ryley Plunkett; Leah Robertson
Indiana Goals: Nicole Redder (2); Jakie Kohli (2); Kara Butler
Saves: Michigan - Alex Adamson (8) ; Indiana - Cassie Wyckoff (6)
Exclusions: Michigan - 9 ; Indiana - 9
Advantage Opportunities: Michigan - 4-for-9 ; Indiana - 2-for-9
Sprints: Michigan - 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 4th) ; Indiana - 1-for-4 (3rd)
Matt Anderson takes the Gatordae bath after the Wolverines claimed their third-straight Eastern title
2010 Eastern Champion Michigan Wolverines
2010 Michigan team captains accept the championship plaque
2010 "Doc Hunkler" Coach of the Year Barry King of Indiana with 2010 CWPA Hall of Fame inductee Leslie Entwistle
2010 Eastern Championship
Runner-Up Indiana University
