The Wolverine

June-July 2012

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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CWPA CHAMPIONSHIP: WATER POLO for the NCAA Championships was thwarted in heartbreak- ing fashion by Maryland, 9-8, April 28 in the CWPA Eastern Championship semifinals. A win in the final would have catapulted the Maize and Blue to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in the program's 12-year history. Junior attacker Kiki Golden had an opportunity to tie the " said 10th- Wolverines Exceed Expectations Despite Heartbreaking Loss The Michigan water polo team's bid for a trip to San Diego was a tremendous bounce back and really got their spirits up to come out of this tournament with a third-place result. "We weren't happy losing the day before, but losing the day after really, really would not have been a good feeling for us heading into the offseason." A down year was expected for the Maize and Blue, who game with a five-meter penalty shot as time expired, but could not find the back of the net. "Unfortunately, we let Maryland jump on us early with some breakdowns we talked about not having, lost six starters from a year ago, but the resilient young squad answered critics by stringing together four straight CWPA tournament victories, including a tight 7-6 win over No. 19 Hartwick April 15 to lock up the CWPA Western Divi- sion Championship — the program's 11th in a row. "Coming into the season, we were preseason No. 5 in the East, and fourth in our division alone, who is 268-94 all time in Ann Arbor. "All season, we talked about hitting our stride at the right time because this was not a team that was going to be able to peak early and then peak again. We had to time everything cor- rectly leading up to a tournament run if we wanted to exceed expectations, and we did. "For all intents and purposes, we " said Anderson, played well enough to win the East- ern Championship if a couple of breaks go our way — we didn't lose by four or five goals. As the saying goes, we beat ourselves. "It was definitely a good showing for this year's team. Maybe not the result we wanted, but better than most ex- pected of us coming in." Golden, who led the team in the Sophomore attacker Lauren Dudley had a breakthrough performance at the CWPA Eastern Championship, tallying six goals in three contests. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS year head coach Matt Anderson, who directed U-M to NCAA Championships appearances from 2008-10. "We were very valiant in making the comeback, and really controlled the game for the next three periods. second period to a 4-4 halftime deadlock. Still, the story of the game was squandered opportunities in big moments. "We had two breakaways that we missed, and we were unsuccessful on two penalty shots, four goals on the board, and that was the difference. "If one or two breaks go our way, we end up winning and " Anderson said. "We left probably advancing to San Diego. It's unfortunate it ended the way that it did. in the CWPA Eastern Championship third-place game to avenge an early-season, 7-5 loss to the Bears. Golden ex- ploded for five goals, and six different Wolverines scored. "We were obviously disappointed not to be in the finals, but Brown upset us earlier in the year," Anderson said. "It U-M bounced back the next day to defeat Brown 10-7 " The Wolverines trailed 3-0 after the first, but rode a strong " more attacker Lauren Dudley turned in one of the most promising performances for the program moving forward, scoring six goals, including two in the loss to Maryland. "Lauren Dudley had been struggling all year to really break Although she did not earn all-tournament honors, sopho- " through in the one or two areas that we think she could dominate in," Anderson said. "Starting with the division championship, she really exploded and reached a level that, truthfully, is only the beginning of what she can do. "Without a doubt, Lauren Dudley was the breakthrough of the weekend, and that to me was one of the most exciting things to see. conference), achieving their ninth consecutive 20-win sea- son under Anderson. U-M returns six starters next season, including four of its five leading goal scorers. The Wolverines finished the season 23-12 overall (4-2 " — Kevin Minor JUNE/JULY 2012 THE WOLVERINE 75 any team," Anderson said. "She controlled the pool at both ends. regular season with 71 goals and 108 points, was dominant throughout the tournament, earning first-team CWPA Eastern All-Tournament honors after notching nine goals in three games. "Kiki Golden was arguably the most dominant performer out there, on

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