Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Start Flat, Fall to LMU
4/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
"We played very bad in the first half," Indiana head coach Barry King said. "We let a good team get away from us. We opened flat, they came at us and we allowed it. I liked the second half a little bit more. We played with a little bit of pride in the second half, but we still had a total lack of attention to detail. We just did not play the way we wanted to play in this game."
Through the first 10 minutes of Saturday night's game, the Lions of LMU dominated as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead. Six different Lions found the scoring column during the run, including a pair of goals from both Devon Wright and Staci Peterson.
The Hoosiers battled back, scoring two of the game's next three goals to end the first half of play. Junior Kandace Waldthaler scored the Hoosiers first goal off a four-meter penalty shot. With Indiana on the advantage, junior Krista Peterson's shot bounced off the crossbar and landed in front of the cage. Sophomore Bridget McKeon corralled the rebound and was fouled from behind to draw the four-meter penalty.
After LMU extended its lead back to eight, sophomore Emily Schmitt scored her first goal of the match. Freshman Kristin Zernicke found Schmitt, who scored from the perimeter for the Hoosiers.
Indiana showed improvement in the second half and scored three of the first four goals of the half. Sophomore Clare Meadows scored at the 5:54 mark of the third to make it 9-3. Peterson found Meadows across the pool and the Mission Viejo, Calif., native scored inside the near post.
LMU responded, however, as Wright scored her third goal of the match on the very next possession just 19 seconds later.
The Hoosiers notched the next two tallies to draw within five at 10-5. Waldthaler and Peterson each tallied scores for IU during the stretch. Peterson connected with Waldthaler at the 3:16 mark of the third period on a give-and-go play. Peterson then notched her first tally of the match in the two-meter position off the pass from Schmitt.
LMU again answered to push the lead back to six on a goal from Jessica Conner. The sophomore duo of Schmitt and Meadows would strike again for the Hoosiers, drawing them within four at 11-7. At the 5:01 mark of the fourth period, sophomore Janis Pardy sent a shot off the crossbar. McKeon was about to grab the rebound and push it towards the goal line. Meadows beat an LMU defender to the ball and punched it into the net for the score. McKeon was credited with the assist on the play.
Schmitt scored with 2:41 remaining in the match to get Indiana to its closest margin of four. The goal was her second of the match and 17th on the year. Peterson assisted on the goal, her third of the match and seventh of the Fluid Four Challenge.
The Hoosiers would not be able to draw closer, though, as LMU scored the match's final two goals. The two tallies gave the Lions the final margin of 13-7. The 13 goals are the most Indiana has allowed this season and only the second time an opponent has scored in double digits.
The Fluid Four Challenge rounds out the Hoosiers regular season schedule. The Hoosiers will not return to collegiate action until the Western Divisional Championship in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, April 17 and Sunday, April 18. Indiana will take on the United States National Team in an exhibition on Thursday, April 8. The match is slated for 7:00 p.m. at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. The Fluid Four Challenge will continue tomorrow with one match at 11:00 a.m. between Loyola Marymount and No. 19 Cal State-Northridge.
