CWPA Women’s Water Polo Report: Michigan Remains the Class of the Conference

Goalie Heidi Ritner and Michigan remain on track for their fourth straight CWPA title. Photo Courtesy: Maciek Gudrymowicz

The first women’s water polo conference contests for the Collegiate Water Polo Association took place recently in Harvard, and the results suggest that none of the CWPA squads have enough depth to topple Michigan from its lofty perch as favorites to advance to a fourth straight NCAA tournament.

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The Crimson sprinted out to 10-0 start—best in program history—twice knocked off a tough Wagner squad in a week’s span, and earlier this month hosted their own invitational tournament, with hopes to dominate Ivy rivals Brown and Princeton. Things started swimmingly for Ted Minnis’ squad, as they beat the Bears 7-6 to extend their streak. But the Tigers proved a shade tougher, as Derek Ellingson’s team escaped with a 7-6 win in overtime, it’s first in CWPA play. Harvard rebounded with an 8-6 win over CWPA foe Bucknell, leaving the Crimson at 12-2 for the season and 1-1 in conference play.

[Catching Up With Harvard Water Polo Head Coach Ted Minnis and Freshman Standout Inde Halligan]

The Tigers, who thus far are 11-4 in Ellingson’s first year at the helm, are 2-0 in CWPA play after a 14-8 win last Saturday against George Washington, and can look forward to a weekend of competitive West Coast play at the Loyola Marymount Invitational, including contests against Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) power Pomoma-Pitzer and Golden Coast Conference (GCC) contender, and host, LMU. The Lions have already played competitive matches against #3 UCLA and #9 Arizona State—and dropped a close game to the Wolverines at last month’s Barbara Kalbus Invitational.

And therein lies the problem.

When Princeton and Harvard go West, they’re looking to beat the second-tier teams in the CWPA’s Top 25 poll. When Michigan goes West—which they’ve already done four weekends in the season’s first five weeks and will do again this coming weekend—the teams they’ve faced include #1 USC (twice), #2 Stanford, UCLA and so on. Marcelo Leonardi’s line-up is far deeper than his conference rivals; he can call on Maddy Steere (22 goals, 25 goals) and Maddy Johnston (20 goals) or Abby Andrews (25 goals, 32 assists) and and goalie Heidi Ritner. Big Blue now has two wins in three contests over #7 Pacific, including an impressive 11-5 win on March 2 in the Wolverine Invitational.

Michigan celebrating their 2018 CWPA title. Photo Courtesy: James Chang

In fact, Michigan’s ranking is far better than any other team in the CWPA; at #6 the Wolverines (12-7) far outdistance Princeton (#12) and Harvard (#18) in the latest poll. In fact, the only other Eastern team that could be considered a threat to Wolverine dominance is Wagner, which weighs in at #16. The Seahawks’ lofty standing is an indicator of how mismatched they are in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), where they are so far ahead of their competition that a 44-match win streak—includes five straight league titles—is in little doubt.

The biggest obstacles to Michigan 2019 conference success were cleared away last year, when Hartwick unceremoniously dropped women’s polo after last season, and Big 10 foe Indiana decamped to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. These dual losses have deprived Leonardi of regional competition, making it even more essential that his players compete against the best of the West.

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Trailing in the Wolverines’ wake, the Tigers proved that they could beat the Crimson in their own pool, thanks to superb goal-tending by sophomore Marissa Webb—the 2018 CWPA Rookie of the Year. They lost Haley Wan and Chelsea Johnson—leading scorers from last year—to graduation, but Amy Castellano (40 goals) and Laura Larkin (28) have stepped up to the Ivy challenge presented by Harvard. In Ellingson, the Tigers have a coach with extensive experience. He was Luis Nicolao’s assistant for 14 seasons, then was on deck with Becca Dorst when she took Princeton all the way to the 2018 CWPA Championship Final, which the Tigers lost 11-8 to Michigan.

[Five Questions for Derek Ellingson, New Head Women’s Water Coach at Princeton]

Princeton will have a chance to show Michigan what it’s made of when the Tigers and Wolverines clash on April 6 in Cambridge—or perhaps for a third straight time in the CWPA title tilt. Spoiler alert: the past three years Michigan has ended Princeton’s season.

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Brown (11-5; 0-1 CWPA) is currently languishing behind it’s Ivy rivals and CWPA foe Bucknell, which clocks in at #24 on the poll. The Bears have struggled to remain competitive in the conference, and this season looks like they’ll fight it out with the Bison for a top-four finish. Eight games in California the next two weekends promise some excellent conditioning for Head Coach Felix Mercado’s squad, and if Katie Klein (team-high 29 goals) and McKenna Miller (17 goals, 17 assists, team-high 28 steals) can maintain their high level of play, Brown will come into an April 6 match-up with Bucknell on a high note.

Bucknell The Bison (14-6; 0-1 CWPA) in doubling their output against opponents (208 goals for;104 goals against) have thus far gotten fantastic results from Ally Furano (62 goals, 36 assists) and Emily Konishi (43 and 22). The challenge for Head Coach Jack McBride is competing against better opponents; only one (versus Marist) of the Bisons’ wins came against a ranked opponent. They played Harvard tough, but will certainly need some stiffer competition, which they’ll get this weekend as they fly West to face Long Beach State, Pomona-Pitzer, Loyola Marymount, San Jose State and California State East Bay.

George Washington (3-6; 0-1 CWPA) has played the fewest matches thus far of CWPA teams; the Colonials are went to California, for matches against Fresno State and CSEB—all loses. The promise of a season ago—with a highly regarded freshman class—has dissipated somewhat, but that’s not Alana Ponce’s fault. The second-year player from Washington state has already registered 27 goals to lead all Colonial scorers. The reality is Barry King’s squad needs to find more offense—freshman Juliette Belanger (13 goals) and sophomore Jaleh Moaddeli (14) are right behind Ponce—to start moving up the ranks of the CWPA.

sfu4 Trailing behind the rest of the CWPA is St. Francis University, which is not surprising given that Marialena Seletopoulou (conference-leading 110 goals in 2018), transferred to Loyola Marymount in the the sunny climes of Los Angeles. Predictably, the Red Flash (7-15) have struggled for wins, and were victimized last month by La Salle, which had only recently ended a 37-match losing streak and got a second win at SFU’s expense.

But, signs of progress abound for Head Coach Jay O’Neill’s squad. On a recent California swing, they beat Fresno State 10-9 and picked up a thrilling 11-10 win over La Verne in sudden death overtime, courtesy of a golden goal from Ani Aghakhanian. With only two seniors, and roster spots to fill due to the defection of Seletopoulou and departure of freshman Ashley Luy, who last month returned home, the future looks brighter for the Red Flash.

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