Indiana University Athletics
IU Looks for Second Straight Regular-Season Division title
3/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
March 14, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 19 Indiana women's water polo team will look to capture its second straight Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Western Division regular-season title when it travels to play No. 12 Michigan on March 17. The match is slated for 7:30 p.m., at the Canham Natatorium. Indiana and Michigan are both 6-0 in the CWPA Western Division.
Following the CWPA Western Division affair with Michigan, the Hoosiers will take part in the Wolverine Invitational for the second straight season. Indiana will play No. 18 Cal State-Northridge at 11:30 a.m., on March 18, followed by a rematch with No. 7 San Diego State at 6:30 p.m. IU and SDSU met earlier this season at the UCSD Triton Invitational with the Aztecs picking up a 9-7 victory. Indiana will close out the weekend against California Baptist at 8:30 a.m., on March 19.
Scouting No. 12 Michigan
The No. 12 Wolverines enter the CWPA Western Division affair with a 15-7 overall record, including a perfect 6-0 mark in the Western Division. Michigan defeated the Hoosiers, 11-7, at the season-opening Michigan Kickoff Tournament. The winner will be the regular season Western Division champion and the No. 1 seed in the Western Division Championship held in Bloomington, April 22-23.
Michigan has won seven straight matches heading into the contest with IU. The Wolverines are led by Shana Welch, who has notched a team-leading 35 goals on the season. Mary Chatigny ranks second with 21 tallies followed by the 19 goals apiece from Carrie Frost and Megan Hausmann. Sharayah Hernandez leads the Maize and Blue with 16 assists.
Sally Stone and Kristen Davis have both seen 15 matches of action in net for Michigan. Stone has 52 saves on the year with a goals against average of 8.21, while Davis has blocked 72 shots with a GAA of 5.98.
IU is 7-28-2 all-time against Michigan. In the CWPA regular season Western Division affair last season, IU defeated the Maize and Blue, 7-6, in sudden victory to claim the 2005 regular season title.
Scouting No. 18 Cal State-Northridge
The No. 18 Matadors are 6-11 overall this season and a 1-7 mark in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). Northridge will host the CSUN Mini Tournament with Cal Lutheran, Macalester College and Wagner on March 15 before taking part in the Wolverine Invitational.
Indiana and Northridge have a pair of common opponents. The Hoosiers lost a 7-4 overtime affair to Long Beach State, while the Matadors shared a similar fate, dropping an 11-10 overtime match. The other common opponent is San Diego State. IU lost to the Aztecs, 9-7, at the UCSD Triton Invitational, while CSUN fell, 11-5, to SDSU.
The Hoosiers and Matadors have only met on one other occasion. At the 2004 Fluid Four, IU defeated CSUN, 10-4, in Bloomington.
Scouting No. 7 San Diego State
The No. 7 Aztecs are 9-5 overall and 3-2 in the MPSF this season. SDSU recently had a four-match winning streak snapped by No. 3 UCLA, 12-3, on March 12.
Rachel Serna leads SDSU with 19 goals, while Stacy Werner ranks second with 14 markers. Anna Gonzalez (12), Elana Cervantes (12) and Ashling Taylor (10) round out the double-figure goal scorers for San Diego State. Sarah Kilgore has started all 14 matches in goal for the Aztecs. She recorded 89 saves, while allowing 80 goals this year.
IU is 1-4 all-time against SDSU. Earlier this season, IU led SDSU, 5-4, late in the third period before the Aztecs scored five straight goals on its way to a 9-7 victory. Indiana's lone victory in the series came last season at the UCSB Gaucho Invitational, 7-6.
Scouting California Baptist
The Lancers are currently riding an eight-match winning streak on their way to an 11-5 overall mark. California Baptist will host Wagner on March 14 and Bucknell on March 15 before the Wolverine Invitational. CBU is coming off a pair of victories on March 11. The Lancers defeated La Venre, 10-4, and UC-Santa Cruz, 10-5.
IU is 2-1 all-time against Cal Baptist, including winning the last two meeting. The two teams have not met since the 2002 season when IU picked up a 14-10 win.
Hoosiers in the National Rankings
In the national rankings released on March 8, senior Janis Pardy and junior Brooke Zimmerman were among the national leaders in goals. Pardy is tied for 12th nationally with 26 markers, while Zimmerman is 22nd with 23 goals. As a team, the Hoosiers rank 15th with an average of 8.9 goals per game (161 goals in 18 games).
Defensively, Indiana is tied for 11th in goals allowed per game at 6.2 per contest (112 goals in 18 games). Sophomore goalkeeper Jackie Pyrz ranks seventh nationally in saves with 105 on the season.
Freshmen Finding the Mark
The freshmen quartet of Martha Schuessler, Maggie Hannon, Jessica Canfield and Stefanie Winter turned in impressive offensive performances while rookie goalkeeper Sarah Larson excelled for the Hoosiers during six CWPA Western Divisions affairs, March 3-5. The foursome scored a combined 20 goals for IU during the stretch, including a trio of hat tricks. They helped the Hoosiers to victories over Grove City (10-3), Slippery Rock (11-3), Washington & Jefferson (12-2), Mercyhurst (14-6) and Penn State-Behrend (13-4).
Schuessler notched the first three tallies of her Hoosier career in IU's 15-5 victory over Gannon on March 3. Hannon turned in her first multigoal game of her career against Mercyhurst followed by a hat trick against Penn State-Behrend on March 5. Winter also notched a trio of markers in the victory over the Behrend Lions. For the weekend, Canfield notched the first four goals of her Hoosier career along with drawing a pair of kickouts.
Larson finished the weekend with 29 saves in 84 minutes of action. She allowed only 14 goals, while recording the first steal and assist of her Hoosier career. She end up with three assists and five steals during the six games. Larson notched a career-high eight saves against Penn State-Behrend.
Defending Regular Season Champions
Indiana will look to defend its 2005 CWPA regular season Western Division title when it faces Michigan on March 17. Both teams are 6-0 in the division and the winner will claim the top spot in the Western Division Championship to be held in Bloomington, April 22-23.
Last season, Indiana went a perfect 7-0 in CWPA Western Division action on its way to the program's first regular-season division title. The Hoosiers picked up wins over Washington & Jefferson (17-2), Slippery Rock (19-6), Grove City (17-4), Penn State-Behrend (14-2), Mercyhurst (16-4), Gannon (11-4) and Michigan (7-6). In the victory over Michigan, Janis Pardy lobbed in a shot in the sudden victory period to claim the Hoosier victory.
Six-on-Five Defense
The Hoosiers' defense has stepped up when faced with a man disadvantage this season. IU opponents have only converted on 25.7 percent (26-of-101) 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.
