With both teams struggling defensively on Saturday, the No. 15 Michigan water polo team’s offense deteriorated in its first quarter against No. 5 California, posing a difficult challenge for the Wolverines to overcome.
After a loss against No. 7 Fresno State on Friday, Michigan continued to falter on its second day of the 2026 Polopalooza Tournament. In a high-scoring contest the Wolverines (0-2) couldn’t outlast the Golden Bears’ (1-0) offense, falling 23-18.
“We can’t let a team jump on us in the first quarter,” Michigan coach Cassie Churnside said. “We did it against Fresno then we evened out. So, we can’t keep having these first quarter warm-ups.”
At the whistle, California won the sprint, and roughly 20 seconds later, the Wolverines were down 1-0. Soon after, sophomore attacker Ari Karampetsou sent a shot off that didn’t settle, and even in that spur of energy, the Golden Bears took it away and gained another goal making it 2-0 in just the first minute of play.
For the next seven minutes Michigan didn’t heat up much, but still tallied a few goals on California. Senior utility player Brooke Ingram, set up by senior defender Issy Jackson, racked the ball in the back of the net to get the Wolverines on the board 2-1. The Golden Bears retaliated off a Michigan turnover to further their lead 3-1. But soon, senior attacker Riley Chapple ripped the ball for her first goal of the night to put the game within one.
However, the Wolverines’ offense, committing multiple turnovers, did not score again in the first period. Due to multiple exclusion calls on Michigan, which set California up for multiple five-meter attempts, its defense couldn’t keep up, sinking to a 8-3 deficit going into its first break of the game.
“When turnovers happen, it’s all a game of reactions, and unfortunately, our reaction was a lot slower than theirs,” Churnside said. “The turnovers were missed shots, the turnovers were steals, the turnovers were bad passes.”
The second quarter started how the first one ended — California took advantage of Michigan’s inept defense and tallied three goals in the first few minutes, causing it to call a timeout and regroup. Missing opportunities off turnovers, the Wolverines got a goal from Karampetsou, but the Golden Bears retaliated immediately, pushing the latter to a 12-4 lead.
Converting off a powerplay, sophomore utility player Harriet Dickens fired the last shot of the second period to the back of the net. But, California still found its way through the Michigan defense comfortably and kept a large spread of 13-7 into halftime. Constantly in a position where the Wolverines were already getting beat going the other way after a missed shot, they looked to make adjustments.
“Any game you’re getting scored on more than 10 goals defensively, that’s not what we’re looking for,” Churnside said. “So in both teams, honestly, I thought we played incredibly poor defense.”
Coming out of the gate in the third quarter, the Wolverines won the sprint and unloaded two shots. This time the Golden Bear’s defense stalled and Michigan out scored them 6-4. Junior attacker Emma Gustafsson tallied two goals on the quarter, and while the Wolverines upped the intensity, they still trailed 17-13.
Closing the once eight point gap, Michigan continued its fight in the fourth quarter where Jackson was able to score in the first thirty seconds. Each team went back and forth drawing fouls, causing powerplays and accruing points. Yet, the deficit would lengthen as Chapple’s two last-minute goals weren’t enough and California resumed forcing turnovers to secure a 23-18 victory.
“To put up 18 on Cal is crazy against their style of defense,” Churnside said. “So, I was really happy with that, we’re taking a lot of strides forward for sure.”
Even though Michigan fell behind early due to its turnovers and loose defense, it made several crucial in-game adjustments to cut its eight point deficit, but was unable to prevail from its first quarter hiccups.
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