Wednesday, May 4, 2022 — 7
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan stays on top, claims CWPA Championship
KELSEY RUFF
Daily Sports Writer
The No. 7 Michigan water polo
team has not lost a conference
championship since 2015. Over the
past seven years, the Wolverines
have gone unmatched against the
Collegiate Water Polo Association.
With six championships, the only
time they didn’t win a title was due to
COVID-19.
On Sunday, the story was the same.
In a two-day event, top-seeded
Michigan (26-8 overall, 12-0 CWPA)
sailed past two teams it had faced and
defeated twice before. It beat No. 22
Brown (25-15, 7-5), 14-7, and Harvard
(23-7, 9-3), 10-4. In both games,
individual players used their own
strengths to win.
“Something that makes Team
22 so great is that we are all unique
in our own ways, in our own skill
sets and personalities,” graduate
student attacker Maddie O’Reilly
said. “When you bring all of those
amazing characteristics together, it
makes something special.”
In their match against the Bears,
the Wolverines placed relentless
pressure on their opponent with an
early 4-2 lead at the end of the first.
After going back-and-forth for the
next two periods, it was ultimately
a six-goal fourth period that gave
Michigan the edge it needed to
defeat Brown and advance to the
championship match.
Utilizing the same strategy that
spelled victory against Harvard in
the past, the Wolverines forced an
overwhelming nine turnovers while
exemplifying near-perfect control
when the ball was in their possession.
By maintaining its consistent goal-
scoring, Michigan was able to
secure a victory against the Crimson
and lock in a spot in the NCAA
Championships.
While many of the older players
on the team have seen this success
before,
the
Wolverines
believe
their key to success this season has
been – and will continue to be – the
chemistry between them.
They are nothing if not hungry for
more hardware.But the real challenge
will be testing that chemistry against
top-tier opponents in the NCAA
Tournament.
With such a seasoned roster,
Michigan is confident in its ability to
keep its head down and focus on the
next match ahead. The Wolverines
are maintaining the game-by-game
strategy that has served
them well throughout
the
regular
season,
looking only toward
their next match.
“It’s
a
one-day
celebration at most,”
O’Reilly said, “As soon
as Monday at 8 p.m.
hits, we’re onto the
next opponent. We’re
ready to go.”
With
the
2022
CWPA Championship
in its back pocket,
Michigan now looks to
take its postseason all
the way.
“Our
goals
are
part of our vision,”
Michigan coach Dr.
Marcelo Leonardi said.
“ Ultimately, we want
to win an NCAA Championship.
We’ll have to focus our energy and
effort into (the quarterfinal) game,
and then prepare for the Final Four. I
think it’s one game at a time.”
Even with the presiding win streak
in conference championships, the
Wolverines have been unable to make
it past the first round since 2016 and
have never gotten higher than fourth-
place in the NCAA Championships.
This year, they hope to change that
— but not before they make it past
their next match.
The Michigan water polo team beat Brown and Harvard to win its sixth Collegiate Water Polo
Association championship in seven years.
SAM ADLER/Daily
Joey Goodsir: Michigan needs to be able to self-motivate
After dropping Friday’s series-
opener
against
Minnesota,
the
Wolverines now stand
with one chance left
to go undefeated for at
least one weekend in
Big Ten play.
That feat has been
a common occurrence
in
past
years.
In
last year’s COVID-
implicated Big Ten
schedule,
Michigan
swept five weekend series. In the
last normal year (2019), it earned six
sweeps against Big Ten opponents.
But the way the Wolverines have
failed in securing a single sweep
most recently suggests a flaw in their
ability to take initiative in getting a
win.
Two
weekends
ago,
the
Wolverines traveled out to College
Park and came up short in the first
game. Unlike the other two matchups
with Maryland that weekend, in
which Michigan came up victorious
— it left 10 runners stranded and fell
to a 5-1 loss.
Last weekend, in many ways,
could’ve
been
described
as
triumphant. The Wolverines fought
to win the majority of their games
in a homestand against Ohio State.
Highlights
included
a
walk-off
triple from fifth-year third baseman
Taylor Bump, a Buckeye-silencing
outing from senior right-hander
Alex Storako and some game-saving
heroics from senior outfielder Lexie
Blair in her return from a leg injury.
The first game, however, still eluded
them. This time, pitching and fielding
were the main causes of a 6-2 loss.
In Friday’s game, the Golden
Gophers came out swinging in the
third inning. They capitalized on
two straight singles with a three-run
homer from Minnesota outfielder
Natalie DenHartog.
Even though fifth-year left-hander
Meghan Beaubien went on to pitch
the whole game without giving up
another run, Michigan’s batting woes
were debilitating toward mustering
any response to DenHertog’s blast.
Through
all
four
innings
that
remained, it tallied a mere two hits.
“Sometimes
your
passion
is
smothered,” Hutchins said after the
Nebraska series. “Whether you’re
fearful, whether you’re afraid of
disappointing people, whether you’re
afraid of not living up to
your expectations.
“…
We
have
high
standards, but expectations
are something out there. It’s
in your head, it’s pressure
you put on yourself.”
Given the Wolverines’
performances these past
two weekends, it’s fair to
expect they will ultimately
show they are the more
skilled team on the field. It’s
even reasonable to expect
that they will win the next
two games and the overall
series.
It
takes
the
disappointment
of
a
weekend-opening loss to
push them there though,
and that can become costly.
“They were all fired up in
the locker room, but then you got to be
in a competitive mindset,” Hutchins
said after the Ohio State loss. “And it’s
the only time it matters.”
Going forward, Michigan will
have to find the version of itself that
responded to a loss with two wins
at Maryland. It will have to find the
version of itself that responded to a
loss with two wins against Ohio State.
The Wolverines can once again
take advantage of that dynamic this
weekend against the Gophers. With
these games being the last ones in
front of a home crowd this season,
they have even more reasons to be
motivated.
But with Big Ten and NCAA
tournament play just around the
corner — tightening the room for
error — Michigan can’t wait to
respond. It has to take initiative to
find that spirit from the jump.
“You have to act like a champion
before you become a champion,”
Hutchins said after a win over
Bowling Green last month. “You can’t
wait to have energy … you have to
have energy and that will dictate if
you have success.”
If the Wolverines can harness that
energy — no waiting required — they
will have that success.
After a coveted Big Ten sweep eluded it once again on Friday, the Michigan softball team needs to
self-motivate to change that fate.
SELENA SUN/Daily
JOEY
GOODSIR