Indiana University Athletics
No. 17 Indiana Travels to Princeton Invitational
2/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
Feb. 16, 2006
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 17 Indiana women's water polo team will compete for the third straight weekend to open the season for the first time since 2003, when it travels to the Princeton Invitational, Feb. 17-19. Indiana will open with Bucknell at 7:15 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17. On Saturday, Feb. 18, IU will play a pair of matches against Brown at 2:15 p.m. and No. 18 Princeton in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. The Hoosiers close out the invite against Harvard on Sunday, Feb. 19, at 1:20 p.m. It is the Hoosiers sixth ever trip to the Princeton Invitational and first since claiming the invite title in 2003.
The Hoosiers opened the season at the Michigan Kickoff Tournament, Feb. 4-5. Last weekend, IU took part in the UCSD Triton Invitational, before competing in the Princeton Invitational. The trio of events in the first three weekends of the season marked the first time IU has competed in back-to-back-to-back events to open the season since doing it in 2003. During that season, the Hoosiers competed in the Michigan Invitational, Stanford Invitational and Princeton Invitational.
Scouting Bucknell
The Bison opened the season at 3-0 with a trio of victories at the Terrapin Invitational on Feb. 11-12. It marked the first time in the history of the program that Bucknell started with a perfect 3-0 mark. At the invite, the Bison picked up victories over Siena, 14-3, Maryland, 9-6, and Cal State East Bay, 17-6.
Freshman Aubrey Rowe leads the Bison with 10 goals and 16 points on the year. She also has six assists and a team-high six steals. Sophomore Meagan Gins ranks second on the squad with nine goals, including six in the victory over Maryland. Junior Elizabeth Jensen tops the squad in assists with eight. Junior Mandy Bynum started two of three matches at the Terrapin Invitational. She has 14 saves on the year and has allowed nine goals.
The Bison are coached by John Zeigler, who enters his seventh year at the helm. In 2005, Zeigler led Bucknell to a program-best record of 23-11. In his seven years as the head coach, Zeigler has led the Bison to a 104-92 record.
Indiana is 2-0 all-time against Bucknell. The last time the two squads faced off was during the 2003 Princeton Invitational. On Feb. 15, 2003, IU opened the Princeton Invite with a 13-3 win over Bucknell.
Scouting Brown
The Bears open the 2006 season at the Princeton Invitational, and the Hoosiers will be their second opponent of the year. Last season, Brown finished 15-13 overall and placed sixth at the CWPA Eastern Championship. Jason Gall enters his second year at the helm of the Brown program.
Junior Elizabeth Balassone returns as the Bears top scorer from a season ago with 32 goals. She also drew 29 kickouts on the year. Junior Paige Lansing finished the 2005 slate with 29 goals. Sophomore Ally Wyatt led Brown with 30 assists, while junior Caitlin Fahey led it in steals with 59. Sophomore Anne Deggelman played every minute in goal for the Bears. She finished the season with 182 saves and a GAA of 6.32.
Indiana is 7-0 all-time against Brown. At the Wolverine Invitational, the Hoosiers defeated the Bears, 4-2, on March 19, 2005.
Scouting Princeton
The No. 18 Tigers will open the 2006 campaign by hosting the Princeton Invitational, Feb. 17-19. Indiana and Princeton will meet in perhaps the feature match of the invite on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m. In 2005, Princeton finished with a 27-9 record and the CWPA Southern Division Championship.
Junior Elyse Colgan returns as one of the top players in the conference. In each of her first two seasons, Colgan was named CWPA Southern Division MVP. In 2005, she led the Tigers with 82 goals in 36 matches. Junior Jazmin Brown and sophomore Carolina Ardila each finished the 2005 season with 31 goals. Brown also was the Tigers leader in steals with 35. Sophomore Natalie Kim returns in goal after posting a 17-7 record a season ago with 182 saves while only allowing 115 goals.
Princeton is led by Luis Nicolao. He is in his eighth season at the helm of the Tiger program. Last season, Nicolao was named the CWPA Southern Coach of the Year.
The Hoosiers are 5-7 all-time against Princeton, but have won the last four matches between the two schools. The last time the two teams met was during the 2004 Bucknell Invitational, and IU picked up a 6-4 win over the Tigers.
Scouting Harvard
The Crimson will begin the 2006 slate at the Princeton Invitational. Harvard will be Indiana's final opponent of the invite as the two squads will square off at 1:20 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19.
Harvard finished the 2005 season at 18-9 overall with a fifth place finish at the CWPA Eastern Championship. Erik Farrar is in his third season at the helm of the Crimson. He has a record of 38-22 as the head coach at Harvard.
Indiana is 6-0 all-time against Harvard. The last time the two teams met was during the 2004 Bucknell Invitational, where IU picked up an 11-3 victory on Feb. 29, 2004.
Last Time at the Princeton Invitational
Indiana last took part in the Princeton Invitational during the 2003 season and claimed the title with a 9-7 win over then-No. 10 UC-Santa Barbara on Feb. 16, 2003. It was the second win in school history over a top-10 program for the Hoosiers. In the opening three games of the tournament, IU defeated Bucknell, 13-3, then-No. 18 Brown, 5-3, and then-No. 19 Harvard, 8-2.
Kristin Stanford led the Hoosier charge at the 2003 Princeton Invite. She finished the event with 13 goals on 18 shots, which included a school-record tying six goals in the title game against UC-Santa Barbara.
History at the Princeton Invite
The Hoosiers' 2006 trip to the Princeton Invitational will mark the sixth time in which IU has taken part in the event. It is Indiana's first trip to Princeton since the 2003 Princeton Invitational. Indiana also took part in the invite in 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2002.
In 20 total matches at the Princeton Invitational, the Hoosiers hold a 13-7 mark. Indiana won the invite in 2003 with a perfect 4-0 record. In 1998, IU went 3-1, while the Hoosiers were 2-2 in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Three of those seven losses have come at the hands of the host Tigers.
In the National Rankings
In the Feb. 15 national rankings, a trio of Hoosiers ranked among the top-40 in the country in statistical categories. Sophomore goalkeeper Jackie Pyrz is tied for second nationally in saves with 67 on the year. In scoring, senior Janis Pardy is ranked tied for 15th in goals with 11 on the season, while fellow classmate Clare Meadows is tied for 39th with eight tallies.
Six-on-Five Defense
The Hoosiers defense has stepped up when faced with a man disadvantage this season. IU Opponents have only converted on 29.6 percent (16-of-54) of their six-on-five opportunities this season.
During the opening weekend of the season at the Michigan Kickoff Tournament, the Hoosiers held then-No. 7 Long Beach State (0-of-6), then-No. 8 Michigan (0-of-3) and Colorado State (0-of-4) scoreless on the six-on-five advantage. In the UCSD Triton Invitational, sophomore goalkeeper Jackie Pyrz made seven saves with IU down a man.
Impact Transfers
The Hoosiers have a trio of transfers that are making an serous impact in the opening weeks of the season. The Hoosiers welcomed senior transfer Katie Parrish from Fullerton College at the start of the school year, while juniors Melissa Soria and Brooke Zimmerman came in prior to the start of the spring semester.
Parrish ranks third on the team in goals with six on the season. She has notched two markers in a trio of games this season. At the Michigan Kickoff Tournament, Parrish notched two goals against both Colorado State and then-No. 17 UC-San Diego. She followed that up with a pair against UCSD a week later at the Triton Invitational.
Soria transferred from Long Beach Community College and has started seven matches for the Hoosiers this season. Soria leads the Hoosiers in kickouts earned with 13. She has four goals on the year to go along with six steals. She notched a career-high two goals in the Hoosiers' 8-7 win over Redlands at the UCSD Triton Invitational.
After missing the Michigan Kickoff Tournament, Zimmerman made her presences felt at the UCSD Triton Invitational. She finished the tournament with four goals, three assists, six steals and seven kickouts earned. Against then-No. 8 San Diego State, Zimmerman recorded her first career hat trick to go along with two assists and three kickouts earned.
