Indiana University Athletics
Comeback Stalls in OT
4/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
"I was happy with the way the ladies fought back to force overtime," Indiana head coach Barry King said. "We could have easily mailed it in after we got down by five goals, but we came back and had a chance to win. We made some mistakes early, and we have some things to tighten up on defense before Easterns next weekend."
Michigan sophomore Shana Welch scored her second and third goals of the match at the 5:49 and 5:04 marks, respectively, of the third period to push the Maize and Blue out to its largest lead at 8-3. Senior Kandace Waldthaler scored in the post followed by a rifle from freshman Carolyn Conway on the perimeter to pull IU back within three by the end of the third period.
Just over a minute into the fourth period, the Hoosiers scored on the counter as junior Clare Meadows pushed the ball into the net off the assist from sophomore Kristin Zernicke. Conway added a 6-on-5 marker less than a minute later to draw IU back within one for the first time since 3:56 remaining in the first period.
The Wolverines pushed the advantage back to two with a 6-on-5 goal on the following possession. The Hoosiers would not mail it in though. Junior Janis Pardy scored with 2:01 remaining from the left side of the perimeter to draw the Cream and Crimson back within one.
With 59 seconds remaining, senior Krista Peterson fed Waldthaler in the post. Waldthaler spun around Michigan senior Sheetal Narsai and drew the four-meter penalty. The Fairfield, Calif., native went on to convert the penalty shot to tie the game at nine.
Narsai came back and drew an ejection on Meadows to give U-M the 6-on-5 advantage with 30 seconds remaining. Narsai took the shot for the Wolverines just inside the four-meter mark, but it was blocked down by the Hoosier duo of Waldthaler and junior Emily Schmitt.
The Cream and Crimson had the final chance in regulation. Following an IU timeout with 18 seconds remaining, Zernicke got a lob shot off at the buzzer that was blocked down by U-M goalkeeper Betsey Armstrong.
The Wolverines got a pair of perimeter goals in the first of two three-minute overtime periods. The first came at the 2:44, followed by the final marker with 0:44 remaining. The Hoosiers battled to the end, adding a 6-on-5 goal from Peterson with two second remaining in the second overtime period.
The Maize and Blue defeated the Hoosiers for the first time in 2005. The Cream and Crimson had defeated Michigan on two occasions with the first coming at the Michigan Invitational, 7-6, and the second during the CWPA Western Division regular season, 7-6, in sudden victory. It marked the third straight season Michigan had defeated IU in the finals of the Division Championship.
The Wolverines jumped out to an early lead with a goal on their first possession. Narsai added a lob shot to push the lead with 2-0 with 4:39 remaining in the opening period. Schmitt cut the U-M lead to one with a 6-on-5 goal off the assist from Zernicke with 3:26 remaining.
Michigan scored the next three goals to push the lead to four at 5-1 with 1:09 remaining in the first period. The Cream and Crimson struck back with a goal from Waldthaler in the post with five second remaining. The two teams traded goals in the second period with Michigan scoring on a skip shot with 58 second remaining, before Pardy struck on a man-advantage goal from the left side with just seven second remaining in the opening half. Zernicke registered the assist on the play and drew the ejection in transition for the Hoosiers.
Senior Kandace Walthaler had the 13th hat trick of her career to go along with six drawn ejections. Pardy and Conway each added a pair of tallies for the Hoosiers. Zernicke finished with a career-best four assists, while Peterson had a pair of helpers. Senior goalkeeper Jessica Goldner had nine saves against the Wolverines.
The Hoosiers and Wolverines will likely be the top two seeds at the CWPA Eastern Championship, April 30 and May 1. The Cream and Crimson host the eight-team Eastern Championship at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center on Saturday and Sunday. The seedings and schedule for the Eastern Championship will be released on Monday, April 25.
