Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Fall to No. 1 Stanford
5/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
LA JOLLA, Calif. - It was the battle of the top coast teams. The best of the East versus the best of the West, and the West prevailed. In the first game of the 2003 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championships, Indiana fell to No. 1 and defending NCAA Champion, Stanford, 13-2.
Perhaps the most intriguing display of emotions that the Hoosiers showed Saturday was after the game, when each individual walked off the pool deck smiling and laughing. Certainly a very confusing occurrence. A team who just got beat by 11 goals, smiling and having a good time?
The fact is, Saturday's semi-final round of the NCAA Championships was simply a perfect setting and the 26-10 Indiana squad knew it. With gametime temperatures announced at 68 degrees, not a cloud was seen in the vicinity of Canyonview Pool on the campus of UC-San Diego.
The Hoosiers dipped into the water with the best team in the nation and competed, plain and simple. They swam to their starting positions, awaiting the opening whistle, knowing full well, they were the off-the-board long shot to defeat Stanford.
In a motivating team meeting Friday evening, Indiana head coach Barry King stressed the most important weapon that Indiana would have against Stanford would be its defense. Sophomore Jessica Goldner showed that at the start of the game, blocking the first three shots from the Cardinal. The crowd rallied behind the Hoosiers, many wearing crimson, but some even in UCLA-blue and plain street clothing. The majority of the fans appeared to be backing the Hoosiers throughout the entire contest.
Indiana's defense not only forced Stanford to take unwanted shots, but it also hurt IU at the same time, hampering the Hoosier offense as well.
"We had to be so focused on the counterattack coming into today's game, that we were so worried about getting back on defense, we didn't have very good offensive sets," said King."
Stanford opened up scoring at the 4:02 mark of the first quarter, when Laurel Champion was found wide open off a Cardinal counterattack and beat Goldner on the 1-on-1 contest.
The Cardinal closed out the first quarter with a 3-0 lead, on goals by Hannah Luber and Lauren Faust as well.
Brenda Villa scored the fourth Stanford goal on an outlet pass, which she then spun off her defender to net her first goal. After a Cardinal timeout, which was called after Indiana's Jamie Marley was ejected, Julie Gardner scored on the 6-on-5 advantage, giving Stanford a 5-0 lead. Faust scored inside one minute remaining in the half, extending the Cardinal lead to six.
Even though Goldner allowed six goals in the first half, the Los Altos Hills, Calif., native did stop 8-of-16 Cardinal shots, including two breakaway 1-on-1 attempts.
At the half, Indiana was scoreless on eight attempts, while committing 10 turnovers, many of which were passes into two-meters trying to create some offensive momentum.
"I was pretty pleased with our first-half offense," King said. "It was disappointing to see that our lack of response to Stanford's big third quarter. But, we finished well, and we're all pleased with that."
The horrific third quarter the Hoosier coach eluded to, was seven minutes full of Stanford dominance. The Cardinal blew the game wide open, as Indiana failed to respond to the charge. Stanford scored five goals in seven minutes, pushing the deficit to 11-0 quickly, with just the final period remaining.
While Stanford pulled goalkeeper Jackie Frank and entered reserve Amanda Matuk, Indiana agreed as a team that the Hoosiers would not lay down.
After two goals by Stanford's Lauren Boreta, Indiana's Krista Peterson struck back with two goals of her own. The Portland, Ore., native took charge of the Hoosier offense and off an assist by freshman Courtney Livak, Peterson lobbed her shot past Boreta, ending the Stanford shutout.
Just two minutes later, Emily Schmitt connected with Peterson, who fought off a double team, to score her second and the Hoosiers' final goal of the game.
IU had played the fourth quarter evenly with the most dominant women's water polo team in the country, and the Hoosiers knew it.
"It's exciting and a great opportunity to play with the best team in the nation," Peterson said in the post-game press conference.
The Hoosiers will play Loyola Marymount in the consolation game Sunday at 1:30 PT. LMU lost to UCLA, 8-2 in the other semi-final, which pairs Stanford (21-2) with the Bruins for the NCAA Championship.
As King noted though, Indiana is simply here to worry about Indiana - not Stanford, UCLA, or LMU. They're not worried about first, second, third, or fourth place.
"Our motto for the past couple of months has been, 'It's all about us, not them.'"
And the "us" is having a pretty darn good time right now. The "Best in the East" and "champion" titles cannot be stripped from the Hoosiers, and they know that.
That's what keeps them smiling.
Perhaps the most intriguing display of emotions that the Hoosiers showed Saturday was after the game, when each individual walked off the pool deck smiling and laughing. Certainly a very confusing occurrence. A team who just got beat by 11 goals, smiling and having a good time?
The fact is, Saturday's semi-final round of the NCAA Championships was simply a perfect setting and the 26-10 Indiana squad knew it. With gametime temperatures announced at 68 degrees, not a cloud was seen in the vicinity of Canyonview Pool on the campus of UC-San Diego.
The Hoosiers dipped into the water with the best team in the nation and competed, plain and simple. They swam to their starting positions, awaiting the opening whistle, knowing full well, they were the off-the-board long shot to defeat Stanford.
In a motivating team meeting Friday evening, Indiana head coach Barry King stressed the most important weapon that Indiana would have against Stanford would be its defense. Sophomore Jessica Goldner showed that at the start of the game, blocking the first three shots from the Cardinal. The crowd rallied behind the Hoosiers, many wearing crimson, but some even in UCLA-blue and plain street clothing. The majority of the fans appeared to be backing the Hoosiers throughout the entire contest.
Indiana's defense not only forced Stanford to take unwanted shots, but it also hurt IU at the same time, hampering the Hoosier offense as well.
"We had to be so focused on the counterattack coming into today's game, that we were so worried about getting back on defense, we didn't have very good offensive sets," said King."
Stanford opened up scoring at the 4:02 mark of the first quarter, when Laurel Champion was found wide open off a Cardinal counterattack and beat Goldner on the 1-on-1 contest.
The Cardinal closed out the first quarter with a 3-0 lead, on goals by Hannah Luber and Lauren Faust as well.
Brenda Villa scored the fourth Stanford goal on an outlet pass, which she then spun off her defender to net her first goal. After a Cardinal timeout, which was called after Indiana's Jamie Marley was ejected, Julie Gardner scored on the 6-on-5 advantage, giving Stanford a 5-0 lead. Faust scored inside one minute remaining in the half, extending the Cardinal lead to six.
Even though Goldner allowed six goals in the first half, the Los Altos Hills, Calif., native did stop 8-of-16 Cardinal shots, including two breakaway 1-on-1 attempts.
At the half, Indiana was scoreless on eight attempts, while committing 10 turnovers, many of which were passes into two-meters trying to create some offensive momentum.
"I was pretty pleased with our first-half offense," King said. "It was disappointing to see that our lack of response to Stanford's big third quarter. But, we finished well, and we're all pleased with that."
The horrific third quarter the Hoosier coach eluded to, was seven minutes full of Stanford dominance. The Cardinal blew the game wide open, as Indiana failed to respond to the charge. Stanford scored five goals in seven minutes, pushing the deficit to 11-0 quickly, with just the final period remaining.
While Stanford pulled goalkeeper Jackie Frank and entered reserve Amanda Matuk, Indiana agreed as a team that the Hoosiers would not lay down.
After two goals by Stanford's Lauren Boreta, Indiana's Krista Peterson struck back with two goals of her own. The Portland, Ore., native took charge of the Hoosier offense and off an assist by freshman Courtney Livak, Peterson lobbed her shot past Boreta, ending the Stanford shutout.
Just two minutes later, Emily Schmitt connected with Peterson, who fought off a double team, to score her second and the Hoosiers' final goal of the game.
IU had played the fourth quarter evenly with the most dominant women's water polo team in the country, and the Hoosiers knew it.
"It's exciting and a great opportunity to play with the best team in the nation," Peterson said in the post-game press conference.
The Hoosiers will play Loyola Marymount in the consolation game Sunday at 1:30 PT. LMU lost to UCLA, 8-2 in the other semi-final, which pairs Stanford (21-2) with the Bruins for the NCAA Championship.
As King noted though, Indiana is simply here to worry about Indiana - not Stanford, UCLA, or LMU. They're not worried about first, second, third, or fourth place.
"Our motto for the past couple of months has been, 'It's all about us, not them.'"
And the "us" is having a pretty darn good time right now. The "Best in the East" and "champion" titles cannot be stripped from the Hoosiers, and they know that.
That's what keeps them smiling.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Water Polo
/ Women's Water Polo
/ Women's Water Polo
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