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Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Indiana
Water polo swept on Day 1 of Michigan tournament
1/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
Jan. 26, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Colorado State lost a pair of games Saturday, but the contests were as different as the colors of their opponents' caps.
On the opening day of the Michigan Kickoff water polo tournament at the University of Michigan's Canham Natatorium, the Rams (0-3) lost to the No. 18 Wolverines, 16-5, then stood strong and showed good unity in a 14-8 setback against Indiana.
"Definitely a better game," said Head Coach John Mattos of CSU's performance against the Hoosiers. "We started coming into our own, communicating better and playing tougher as a team."
One of those who showed great toughness against Indiana was Emily Chambers. The junior from San Clemente, Calif., scored two goals and played what Mattos thought was CSU's best overall game.
"Both offensively and defensively," Mattos said, "that's the kind of game we expect from her, and all of our upperclassmen. She played great defense all over the pool."
Freshman Ali Pavlik played great offense, recording her second hat trick in her first three college games. Quickly making a name for herself, Pavlik leads the Rams with eight goals on the young season. Orsi Nadasdy, Shannon Kohl and Sarah Ostling also scored for CSU.
Sophomore goalie Krystyna McCright continued to improve. In addition to her seven saves, she collected three steals and also drew a rare ejection, sending a Hoosiers player to the penalty box and giving the Rams a power-play advantage.
"The player started to attack her a little too aggressively," Mattos said. "It was nice to see her be able to eject an opponent. That's rare for a goalie. She was very, very solid today. They had 28 shot attempts and she was contesting just about every one of them."
Like their first two games of that young season, the Rams fell behind early against Indiana, but kept the Hoosiers within reach. CSU trailed 3-1 after one period, and 6-2 at half. Building momentum entering the second half, the Rams scored twice to pull within two at 6-4, but then gave up a 3-1 Hoosiers run that proved to put the game out of reach.
Unlike their respectable effort against Indiana, the Rams struggled against the day's first opponent, Michigan. The tournament host, ranked No. 18 in the nation, the Wolverines scored early and often. They scored on the opening sprint, then added another goal on a fast break less than a minute into the game.
Michigan shut out the Rams in the first quarter, and enjoyed a comfortable lead at intermission over their young and mostly inexperienced counterparts.
"We're not a team that can come back from a 12-1 deficit," Mattos said, noting that the Rams matched the Wolverines, 4-4, in the second half.
"Our kids were tentative, their heads were down in the water, and we played the other team's game. We just weren't reacting well. We lost because we didn't make good decisions."
The Rams had nine power-play opportunities, but scored on only two of them. Michigan, meanwhile, was 3-for-6 in those situations, and had two penalty goals.
"We were shell shocked," Mattos said. "We're a much better team than what we've showed early in this season."
According to Mattos, Andrea Victoria played the Rams' best game against Michigan. McCright chipped in with 10 saves and two steals. Annie Quinn and Pavlik each scored twice, while Kohl added CSU's fifth goal.
Even after a grueling day, the Rams may not sleep too well tonight. Their opponents for the second and final day of the tournament are the nation's No. 7 team, San Jose State, followed by No. 1 UCLA. And, their wake-up call will be early because the SJSU contest begins at 8 a.m. EST. So, over the season's first four days, the Rams will have faced the Nos. 1, 7, 14 and 18 teams in the country, including their Thursday opener at home against UC San Diego.
Regardless of whether the underdog Rams win or lose Sunday, Mattos wants to accomplish one important task before his team departs for the airport to return home.
"We want to make the other teams respect us," Mattos said. "We don't want to just get blown by, and not play heads up polo. Even if we get down, I don't care by how many, we're going to keep playing. And we want those opponents to respect us and honor our program, and know that we're going to get there. Yeah, maybe we're not there yet, but we're going to get there."
