IU Advances to Title Game<br> - Indiana University Athletics

IU Advances to Title Game

4/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- The No. 10 Indiana water polo team advanced to the finals of the Western Division Championships with a 12-3 victory over the third-seed Gannon. Junior All-American Krista Peterson continued her impressive Championship registering her second-straight four-goal performance. The Hoosiers improve to 18-7 overall with the win.

"I was particularly happy with the game against Gannon," Indiana head coach Barry King said. "We knew that Gannon was going to come out with a lot of spirit because they are trying to prove that they belong in the upper echelon of the conference. I thought we responded to their energy pretty well. We did a good job of attacking and being unbalanced. I was very pleased with what we did this afternoon. We are pretty rested now, and we are ready to give the division title a run."

In the season's earlier match, Gannon was able to get within two goals on a few different occasions before the Hoosiers pushed out an 11-5 win. That would not be the case this time as Indiana scored the match's first four goals and led at one point, 12-1.

Sophomore Bridget McKeon started the Hoosier onslaught as she skipped a shot into the lower left corner off the assist from senior Melissa Pietras. Peterson scored the Hoosiers second tally with Pietras again assisting on the play. With Indiana on the advantage, Peterson scored into the right side of the net from the perimeter with 4:49 remaining in the opening period.

The goal was the 50th of the season for Peterson and her third 50 or more goal season in her career. It marked only the second time in Indiana history a player scored 50 or more goals in three seasons.

Sophomore Emily Schmitt scored her 18th goal of the season on a fast break. Freshman Kristin Zernicke found Schmitt ahead on the break. Schmitt pumped twice before scoring into the left side of the net. Peterson capped off the first period for the Hoosiers with a score. The Portland, Ore., native played give-and-go with fellow classmate Kandace Waldthaler and scored into the right side of the net.

Gannon closed the gapped as Katherine Bucceri scored in the post. The Hoosiers responded scoring the final three goals of the half. Freshman Kara Woolley scored from just outside the two-meter on a nice pass from Schmitt. The goal gave the Hoosiers a four-goal lead with 4:43 remaining in the second period.

Waldthaler scored on a four-meter penalty shot into the lower left corner just over a minute later. It was the ninth four-meter goal on the season for Waldthaler. Peterson drew the penalty when she was fouled from behind. McKeon went on to end the half the way she started it scoring with just 1:38 remaining in the half. Peterson assisted on the goal with IU on the advantage.

The Hoosiers continued to dominate the match scoring the first five goals of the second half to push the advantage to 12-1. Sophomore Janis Pardy netted her first two goals of the weekend in the second half. She scored off the assist from Peterson with IU on the advantage to open the third period of play.

Pardy notched her second to open the fourth period of play as well. This time the Calargy, Alberta, Canada, native skipped a shot into the lower left corner.

Peterson also netted a pair of goals in the second half to bring her game total to four. The All-American now has 53 on the season. She also drew five kickouts in the game as well as two four-meter fouls. One of Peterson's two goals in the second half was a four-meter penalty shot, bringing her season total to a perfect four-of-four.

Freshman Kourtney Schepman scored the Hoosiers' only other goal of the second half. Peterson, Pietras, Zernicke and Schmitt each registered two assists in the match to help the Hoosier cause.

Waldther and Schmitt each had three steals to lead the way for the Hoosiers on the defensive end. Junior goalkeeper Jessica Goldner turned in a solid performance in net with 11 saves to go along with two steals while only allowing three goals.

The Hoosiers advance to the finals of the Western Division Championships where they will play No. 8 Michigan. The Wolverines defeated Washington & Jefferson in the other semifinal match up, 19-2. It will be the third time this season the two teams have squared off. Michigan won the match ups, 4-2 at the Michigan Invite and 4-1 in conference play. The two teams also faced off for the Division Championship last season as well.

"There are not any mysteries out there between us and Michigan," King said. "On film, we saw some things we can clean up from our pervious games with them. It is going to come down to whose goalie is hotter. That is normally the way it happens. Hopefully tomorrow, our goalie will be better than their goalie." is is a current news photo">Junior Jessica Goldner had 11 saves in the cage against Gannon.