Indiana University
Gannon (CWPA Western Division Championship)
Hoosiers Advance to Western Division Championship Game
4/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
April 22, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 16 Indiana water polo team cruised in the title game of the CWPA Western Division Championship at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center on April 22 with a pair of victories over Gannon, 15-3, and Slippery Rock, 11-2. The victories push the Hoosiers to 22-9 on the year and made them winners of 18 of their last 20 matches. Indiana will face No. 17 Michigan (26-11) in the championship game for the third straight season.
"It is always nice to get contributions up and down the lineup," Indiana head coach Barry King said. "We wanted to make sure we took care of business, and we did that by getting to the championship game. These are the games where we really can see the development in our younger players, and they continue to show us the things we are teaching them in practice."
Junior Melissa Soria continued her tear offensively. She finished the day with two hat tricks, including a career-high tying five goal performance in the win over Slippery Rock. She has recorded seven hat tricks in her last eight matches.
Indiana blew past Gannon in the opening game of the championship with 10 unanswered first-half goals on the way to a 15-3 victory. Junior Brooke Zimmerman assisted on the first two goals of the contest finding fellow classmates Soria and Kristin Zernicke in the first minute to start the route. The assists pushed her season total over the 40 plateau making her only the second IU player to record 40 or more assists in a season. Deb Simone did it on three occasions in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
The Hoosiers scored their first four goals on the counter. After Soria scored 21 seconds into the match, Zernicke scored a trio of goals for her third hat trick of her career. The final tally gave IU a 4-0 lead with 4:34 remaining in the opening half. Soria followed Zernicke's lead with three straight goals to end the period. Zernicke dumped a ball into the post to Soria, who finished with a backhand shot to the left post. Junior Kara Woolley then found Soria for a pair of goals in the final minute of the opening period.
Junior Clare Nicholson notched a tally from the right side of the perimeter two minutes into the second period to add to the IU lead. Sophomore Linda Calvert finished the half with a pair of goals. Her first at the 1:40 mark came on an assist from Martha Schuessler, after Calvert gave IU the six-on-five advantage with a drawn kickout in the post. Senior Katie Parrish provided the spark for IU's 10th and final goal of the half. The Santa Barbara, Calif., native stole the ball on the defensive end and led Calvert on the break for the eventual one-on-one goal.
Indiana and Gannon traded goal in the third period. After the Golden Knights recorded their first goal of the game a 1:30 after halftime, Schuessler scored her first tally of the contest from the top of the key. Gannon responded with a goal a minutes later before another Hoosier freshman scored. Less than 20 seconds after Gannon scored its second goal of the game, freshman Maggie Hannon tallied a score in the post as IU ended the third with a 12-2 lead.
The cushion ballooned to 15-2 before Gannon scored with less than a minute remaining for the final margin. Hannon added her second goal of the contest in the two-meter before freshman Jessica Canfield skipped in a shot from the right side of the perimeter that just made it over the arm of the Golden Knight goalkeeper. Parrish added the final IU marker with a minute remaining for her 10th goal of the season.
Sophomore Jackie Pyrz and freshman Sarah Larson split time in goal for the Hoosiers. Pyrz finished with four saves in the first half, while Larson came back with five blocks in the second. Hannon led the way defensively for IU as he recorded a career-high three steals.
The Hoosiers got off to a slow start against Slippery Rock and trailed at two points in the opening period. Soria answered both SRU goals in the first period. The first came on a nice pass from Nicholson to the left post with 5:47 remaining in the first period. The second the Villa Park, Calif., native rebounded her own shot and scored with a backhand shot to the right post.
Indiana sailed from there scoring nine unanswered goals to close out the match. Senior Courtney Livak pushed IU in front from the first time, 3-2, at the 4:50 mark of the second stanza. The San Jose, Calif., native then assisted on the second goal of the period with a pass to Woolley, who scored into the right corner of the net from the right side of the perimeter. The goal came with less than a minute remaining and sent IU to the locker room with a two-goal cushion, 4-2.
Soria caught fire as did the Hoosiers in the second half. She equaled her career high with five tallies with a trio of tallies in the third period. Four of the five Hoosier markers in the third were on the counter as IU sprinted past Slippery Rock defenders to set up one-on-one with the goalkeeper. After Soria scored on the counter, Zernicke drew an ejection in transition and played give-and-go with sophomore Brittany Estrada, who scored on the counter with five minutes remaining in the period.
At the 3:31 mark, Soria turned in an impressive individual-effort score. With a defender on her back and the goalkeeper coming with the double-team, Soria backhanded the ball into the right side of the empty net. She and Hannon added two more goals on the counter as IU closed the period with a 9-2 lead.
Woolley scored her second goal of the game to give IU a 10-2 lead. She fired the ball from the top of the key for the score. Hannon provided the spark for the final IU tally of the match. The Ann Arbor, Mich., native drew a four-meter penalty in the two-meter and then tallied the penalty shot with 3:54 remaining.
Pyrz finished with three saves in net for IU, while four different Hoosiers recorded two steals. Nicholson, Zernicke, senior Bridget McKeon and Estrada each had a pair of swipes.
"I thought Claire Nicholson had an outstanding day," King said. "Her contribution really didn't show up in goals, but she did a good job defensively and helped get our offense going."
The title game of the CWPA Western Division Championship is slated for noon on Sunday, April 23, at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. The Hoosiers will look for their first postseason Western Division crown. By virtue of finishing in the top two of the division championship, the Hoosiers earn one of the division's two automatic berths in the CWPA Eastern Championship. The Eastern Championship will be April 29-30 in Providence, R.I.
Players Mentioned
