The Michigan water polo team stood strong this weekend at the Princeton Invitational behind the California-bred talent of senior captain Leah Robertson. The two-day East Coast invitational was a break from Michigan’s tough non-conference schedule, which included wins over several West Coast powers, including two seventh-ranked schools, San Jose State and San Diego State, and No. 3 Hawaii.

Robertson and junior Lauren Orth carried the fifth-ranked Wolverines (9-3) past their two toughest opponents of the invitational. The Wolverines handed No. 20 Princeton (3-1) its first loss of the season 13-10, with four goals each from Robertson and Orth. The Wolverines followed that up with a 14-11 win over rival No. 12 Hartwick.

“We have a team goal that we’re never going to get beaten in the East,” Orth said.

Orth’s impressive performance, including a career-high six steals against Princeton, has helped keep that goal alive early in the season, but as Michigan coach Matt Anderson knows, a season can turn around quickly.

“As of Feb. 21 we are feeling good," Anderson said. “But as in any sport, the next game can make you feel not so good.”

The Wolverines also looked good against Hartwick (12-3). Although the Hawks looked strong early, they were unable to hold up against a strong Michigan offense.

In the second stanza, with the game tied at two, Robertson attacked. The team captain exploded for five goals in the period and finished the game with a career-high six scores.

The Hawks made it close late against the Michigan bench, outscoring the Wolverines 5-1 in the final period, but Michigan’s seven-score lead was too large to overcome. Robertson accounted for 10 of the Wolverines’ 27 opening-day goals.

“That was Leah being Leah.” Anderson said. “Leah is as good as any player in the nation. When she is on, she is very fun and exciting to watch.”

The Wolverines followed up their impressive opening-day showing by crushing two unranked opponents on the second day of the tournament. Michigan defeated then-unbeaten Harvard, 13-3, and Wagner, 12-5.

Sunday’s showing was built on strong defense, led by freshman goalie Alex Adamson. Adamson has won her first two collegiate games, putting up an impressive 17 saves and allowing just eight goals over two games. With redshirt senior Brittany May sidelined because of injury, Adamson was called on to head the Michigan defense and was brilliant in net.

“We wanted to work on our offensive explosion.” Anderson said. “Sunday, we wanted to put more emphasis on our defensive end. The one thing that could derail us is if we do not fine-tune our defensive effort when we play (Princeton and Hartwick) again. We know we can score on them now, we have to frustrate them more on the defensive end.”

The tournament sweep marked a strong start to the Wolverines' CWPA conference play as they look to three-peat as CWPA Eastern Conference Champions and prove they are contenders in the NCAA Tournament.

“We were tied at No. 1 with Hartwick (in conference standings) coming in, and we proved we were capable of beating them.” Robertson said. “We think we are No. 1 in our conference but it’s not final so we have a lot of work to do. It shows the rest of the water polo world we are a powerhouse and a team to be reckoned with.”