Indiana Falls Twice at Stanford

2/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo

PALO ALTO, Calif. - After Indiana's 13th-ranked water polo squad sat dejected on the deck of the Avery Aquatic Center on the campus of Stanford University Saturday, Hoosier head coach Barry King was quick to point out that losses don't mean anything at this stage.

The Hoosiers fell twice to top-ten competition Saturday at the Stanford Invitational, but not without a fight. King brought smiles to faces and hope to each Hoosier when he stated that Indiana proved it belonged in the water with teams of such caliber.

The first day of the Stanford Invitational taught many things to this Hoosier squad, but the most important lesson-learned, understood, and shown throughout the day-was a "don't give up attitude."

"Overall I was really pleased with the efforts that we gave today," King said. "I felt that we battled all day against two top-ranked teams. A lot of times when we got down, it was because of mistakes or uncertainties on our end. I saw things out of us today that are very encouraging and that can only make us better the rest of the season."

Indiana (2-3) fell in its afternoon match to San Jose State, which was a rematch of two weeks ago, when the Hoosiers defeated the Spartans 10-8 at the Michigan Invitational. Saturday proved to be yet another hard fought match, but the Hoosiers, who spent the majority of their afternoon match coming from behind, lost 11-9 to the ninth-ranked Spartans.

IU struck first on a netter by senior Kristin Stanford at the 5:48 mark in the first quarter. San Jose State then scored four unanswered goals to close out the first period. Indiana would not stay down long, as sophomore Krista Peterson and Stanford answered back with consecutive goals to close the deficit to one.

SJSU would go on to get the two goals back to enter halftime leading 6-3. In the third quarter, both teams answered each other's goals throughout the first seven minutes. Hoosier freshman Emily Schmitt served a beautiful cross-pool pass to classmate Courtney Livak, who then tipped it past the SJSU defender at the 0:19 mark to again close the gap to two.

"Courtney Livak, I feel, had her coming-out party today," King said. "She played unbelievable on both ends of the pool. She created a lot of opportunities for us, and drew a number of ejections. She played the best she's played all year today. It was really nice to see a performance like that out of a freshman."

The Hoosiers kept fighting throughout the final quarter but could not stop the Spartans from answering back.

Stanford and Peterson were responsible for seven of the Hoosiers' nine goals, scoring four and three, respectively.

Sophomore goalkeeper Jessica Goldner, who was playing just five minutes from her home in Los Altos Hills, was fired on 30 times by the SJSU offense, which sets an Indiana school record for attempts by a Hoosier goalkeeper. Goldner actually tied the record of 29, which was set by Kirsten Mayberry against Princeton last year, earlier in the day against Cal.

Rounding out the scoring for the Hoosiers against SJSU, was Livak and junior Melissa Pietras, both with a goal each.

In the Hoosiers' first game of the third annual invitational, Indiana fell 10-3 to a fifth-ranked Cal team who would later give No. 1 Stanford a battle in the tournament's nightcap.

Cal stormed out of the gates early, taking a 3-0 lead after the first quarter. Stanford, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, found the back of the net at the 6:06 mark of the second, putting the Hoosiers on the board and within two of the Golden Bears.

The two-point deficit would be the closest the Hoosiers would come to Cal's powerful offense, led by a pair of Golden Bears. Sophomore Jodie Needles scored three consecutive goals to push the Cal lead to 6-1 early in the third quarter. Another Cal sophomore recorded a hat trick on the Hoosiers, as three of the final four Golden Bear goals were scored by Cara Chlebicki.

Given the information above, one would think that Goldner had a rough game as the Hoosier goalie. That wasn't the case though. Although 10 balls got passed her, Goldner stopped a career-high 15 shots on a career-high and then-school record 29 shots. Goldner maintained consistency throughout the match, grabbing eight-of-16 shots in the first half, while stopping 7-of-13 in the second.

"Jessie had a fantastic game this morning against Cal," said King. "I felt that this game was one of the best, if not the best, that I have seen her play. Obviously we're looking for repeat performances like the one she had this morning. Consistency will be key for us this year in goal, and what I saw this morning was very encouraging."

Indiana will play two contests tomorrow in the tournament's final day of competition. The Hoosiers open at 9:00 a.m. PT to the host, defending NCAA national champion, and No. 1 ranked Stanford. IU will likely face either Santa Cruz or Hawaii in the Hoosiers' final match.