Indiana University
Harvard
Hoosiers Face CWPA Return at Red Flash Tournament
3/23/2018 6:57:00 PM | Women's Water Polo
Indiana is headed east and back in conference play
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Another top-25 battle and a return to the CWPA slate highlights the Indiana water polo team's weekend in central Pennsylvania. The No. 13 Hoosiers, receiving a two-week hiatus after a 2-1 showing at Arizona State, will get a preview of two conference foes before facing Saint Francis in their home pool.
The biggest challenge of the trio comes against No. 22 Harvard, who won their most recent encounter with IU in the CWPA quarterfinals last season. Indiana closes the day against Bucknell, a preview of their CWPA and regular season finale next month. The Hoosier senior class aims to climb north of 20 wins for the fourth time in their careers before reaching next weekend's senior day showdown.
Red Flash Tournament • Saint Francis University
Sat.-Sun., March 24-25 • Stokes Natatorium • Loretto, Pa.
Saturday, March 24
9:30 am ET | #13 Indiana (17-5) vs. #22 Harvard (11-10)
2:30 pm ET | #13 Indiana (17-5) vs. Bucknell (8-11)
Sunday, March 25
9:00 am ET | #13 Indiana (17-5) at Saint Francis (12-5)
All games streamed on Facebook Live
Last Action: Double in the Desert
Two weeks ago, Indiana wrapped up their regular season westward road schedule with three games at Arizona State. The Hoosiers dropped their opener against the sixth-ranked hosts but bounced back with wins over Pomona-Pitzer and No. 25 Fresno State, allowing just four goals in each game.
Sarah Young had the best single-game offensive output, with four goals, and she shared the weekend points lead with Sarah Myers and Kelly Matthews at six apiece. Jessica Gaudreault tabbed another superb weekend between the posts with 33 saves, earning double figures against the Sun Devils and Sagehens.
Top Class
With Sarah Myers (102) netting her 100th career goal in Bloomington earlier this month, the Hoosiers achieved a huge team milestone. All four field players in the IU senior class have scored 100 or more goals in their careers. Sarah Young (111) crossed the century mark in Santa Clara while Jennifer Beadle (132) did so at the start of the year. Kelly Matthews (233) had 100 goals halfway through her sophomore season and ranks fourth on Indiana's all-time scoring leaderboard.
The fifth IU senior, Jessica Gaudreault, has the IU goal on lockdown this season. Gaudreault (885) is six saves shy of Jessica Goldner (891, 2002-05) for the second-most blocks in program history.
Clashing Crimson
Indiana will play their 13th game of the year against a ranked opponent when they face Harvard on Saturday morning. The teams have split their last four meetings, with Harvard taking a 12-11 win in last year's CWPA quarterfinals. The Crimson have won four of their last six games with a 3-1 record at the LMU Invitational.
Battling the Bison
The Hoosiers return to the pool for a Saturday afternoon pairing with Bucknell. Indiana has won their last eight games against the Bison, most recently with a 14-9 result in Bloomington at last year's CWPA Championship. Jennifer Beadle and Kelly Matthews registered hat tricks in the 2017 season finale.
Round Robin Return
Sunday's game against Saint Francis brings a return to the CWPA conference round robin for Indiana. They aim to get back on track after falling 13-11 to No. 12 Hartwick, their CWPA opener, earlier this month.
Last season, Indiana posted a 5-3 conference record for a fourth-place regular season finish.
Of Note...
• The Hoosiers have scored 24 combined hat tricks from nine different players this year. Jennifer Beadle leads the high-scoring group with 6 hat tricks, a career high.
• Indiana is 8-1 this season when Jessica Gaudreault makes 10 or more saves in a game.
• Sarah Myers leads Indiana's field defense, recording multiple steals in 12-of-22 games this season. Myers has 174 steals in her career, tied with Kristin Stanford (2000-03) for the ninth-most in program history.
• Two Hoosiers are climbing the IU career assists leaderboard. Sarah Myers ranks seventh with 132; Kelly Matthews ranks eighth but trails only by one, at 131. Myers is one assist away from tying Kristin Zernicke (2004-07) for sixth-place at 133 career assists.
• Indiana returns to Bloomington for their Senior Day and home finale against their Big Ten rival, No. 9 Michigan. The game will honor seven Hoosiers with five playing their final career game at the home pool.
