Despite a 24-0 record against teams east of the Mississippi River, there was still a lingering doubt.

Was the No. 11 Michigan water polo team truly the best in the East?

A 10-7 win over rival No. 14 Hartwick in the Eastern Championship on Sunday silenced the few remaining critics.

Following the final buzzer, Michigan coach Matt Anderson dove into the pool for a rendition of "Hail to the Victors" with his players.

"I've been telling them all year that we deserve to be the best in the East," Anderson said. "It was just a matter of them overcoming question marks this season to live up to their potential."

The championship punched the Wolverines' ticket to a rematch in the NCAAs against some of the West Coast teams that gave them so much trouble earlier this season.

"This team believes they deserve to be (at the NCAAs)," Anderson said. "And we're going there with the belief that we're one of the top eight teams in the nation, so the world is their oyster."

Michigan fans filled Canham Natatorium to watch the Wolverines beat Hartwick (28-11) for the third time this season, continue their 27-game winning streak and earn their first Eastern Championship since 2005.

Michigan (33-9) scored first when Collegiate Water Polo Association Player of the Year Julie Hyrne scored her first of four goals.

The Wolverines rode their momentum to a 5-1 lead, but the Hawks clawed their way back as the two-time defending Eastern Champions started to penetrate the Michigan defense that had been playing so well of late.

Michigan's lead was trimmed to one before Anderson called a timeout, hoping to rally his team.

"I told them, 'We don't need another goal to win this game,' " Anderson said. "'We don't need a hero. We just need to play defense.'"

That was all the Wolverines needed to hear.

Michigan held the Hawks to just one goal in the next 12 minutes, getting back to the hard-nosed defensive style that has been key in the Wolverines' winning streak.

"We just had to get our head back in the game," Hyrne said, "We got away from our gameplan, and we knew that good defense was how we were going to win."

After the timeout, Michigan was forced into a five-on-six. Hartwick found an open shot and fired it at the Wolverine goal, but junior goalie Brittany May made an acrobatic diving stop, one of her eight of the day.

"With our team, what's great is that if we're tied or down, we know that someone is going to step up," May said. "Whether it's me or someone else stepping up, we know how badly the team wants to win, so we do it for the team."

On the ensuing possession, sophomore Leah Robertson, now Michigan's all-time steals leader (214), scored to give the Wolverines a lead they wouldn't surrender.

"All it took was for us to realize how much we love to play defense," Anderson said. "There was no one in this tournament that loved to play defense as much as we did."

The game was senior Michelle Keeley's final match in Canham Natatorium. She called lifting the Eastern Championship plaque "the greatest moment of her water polo career."