Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Set for CWPA Eastern Championship
4/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
April 26, 2006
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana water polo team is seeded fourth in the 2006 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Championship, the conference office announced on April 24. The Hoosiers will battle the No. 5 seed Bucknell Bison at 10:30 a.m., on April 29. The Eastern Championship will be hosted by Brown University at the Smith Swim Center in Providence, R.I. The winner of the championship will earn one of five automatic bids to the NCAA Championship, which is slated for Davis, Calif., on May 12-14.
The top two teams from Northern, Southern and Western Divisions earned automatic berths in the CWPA Eastern Championship. The CWPA Championship Seeding Committee selected two at-large teams, before deciding the bracketing and seeding for the event. The Hoosiers earned a spot in the championship by virtue of finishing second at the CWPA Western Division Championship in Bloomington, Ind., on April 22-23. IU fell in the title game to Michigan, 4-3.
Indiana will be in search of its second CWPA Eastern Championship. The Hoosiers won the title in 2003, before taking second last season in Bloomington. Indiana is 11-5 all-time at the CWPA Eastern Championship, and has finished third or better in four of the last five years.
Below is a look at the seeds and matchups for the CWPA Eastern Championship:
Seeds
No. 1 seed - Hartwick
No. 2 seed - Michigan
No. 3 seed - Princeton
No. 4 seed - Indiana
No. 5 seed - Bucknell
No. 6 seed - Maryland
No. 7 seed - Brown
No. 8 seed - Harvard
Schedule
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Game 1 - 9:00 a.m. - Hartwick vs. Harvard
Game 2 - 10:30 a.m. - Indiana vs. Bucknell
Game 3 - 12:00 p.m. - Brown vs. Michigan
Game 4 - 1:30 p.m. - Princeton vs. Maryland
Game 5 - 4:00 p.m. - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 6 - 5:30 p.m. - Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
Game 7 - 7:00 p.m. - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 8 - 8:30 p.m. - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Seven-Place Game - 9:00 a.m. - Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6
Fifth-Place Game - 10:30 a.m. - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6
Third-Pace Game - 12:00 p.m. - Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8
Championship Game - 1:30 p.m. - Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8
Scouting Bucknell
Bucknell enters the CWPA Eastern Championship as the No. 5 seed with a record of 22-7. The Bison are only one win shy of equaling the program record for wins in a season. Bucknell has won 10 of its last 12 matches entering the event.
The Bison were one of the at large teams selected to the Eastern Championship field after finishing third at the CWPA Southern Division Championship. At the Southern Championship, Meagan Gins broke the school standard for points in a season with 95. She also equaled the Bison school record for single-season goals with 66.
Aubrey Rowe ranks second on the team with 53 goals on the year. Elizabeth Jensen leads the team with 40 assists to go along with 43 goals on the season. Mallory Sullivan and Amanda Nogic top the team defensively with 35 steals apiece. Mandy Bynum has seen action in 28 games between the pipes for the Bison, as she notched 204 saves while allowing 163 goals.
Indiana and Bucknell will be meeting for the fourth time overall and first time in the Eastern Championship. IU owns a 3-0 series advantage over the Bison, including a 12-9 victory earlier this season at the Princeton Invitational. Juniors Kristin Zernicke and Brooke Zimmerman notched hat tricks in the victory for the Hoosiers.
Against the Eastern Championship Field
The Hoosiers are 5-3 against the field at the CWPA Eastern Championship. IU's opening round match against Bucknell will be a rematch of the Hoosiers' 12-9 victory at the Princeton Invitational on Feb. 17. Indiana also owns a pair of victories over Michigan (6-4 on March 17 and 6-5 on March 25), along with wins over Brown (7-5 on Feb. 18) and Harvard (13-5 on Feb. 18). Of the three IU losses to the field, two have come against Michigan. Coupled with the 4-3 loss in the Western Division Championship game, the Hoosiers fell 11-7 to open the season on Feb. 4. IU also suffered a 9-8 sudden victory defeat at the hands of Princeton on Feb. 18.
In Search of 200
Indiana head coach Barry King has been at the helm of the Hoosier program since its inception in 1998, and he is closing in on a milestone victory. Over this nine years, the Hoosiers have won 198 matches entering the 2006 CWPA Eastern Championship, leaving King two wins shy of 200 career victories. Including the 2006 season, the Hoosiers are averaging 22 victories a season under the direction of King. The Hoosiers have collected 20 wins each of the last five seasons under King.
During his tenure, King has guided his Hoosiers to six All-American honors, 29 AWPCA Academic All-America honors, 29 Academic All-CWPA and 55 Academic All-Big Ten honors. He also led IU to the 1998 Midwest Regional Title, the 2003 CWPA Eastern Championship and the 2003 NCAA Final Four.
20 Wins the Mark
For the fifth straight season and eighth time in the nine-year history of the program, Indiana notched 20 wins in a season with a 13-9 victory over Sonoma State on day two of the Davis Shootout on April 9. The Hoosiers are currently 20-9 on the year. The lone year IU failed to win 20 was 2001 when Indiana finished 18-12-1.
Indiana head coach Barry King has led the Hoosiers during every season as a varsity sport. In his nine years, he has guided the Hoosiers to a 198-104-2 (.655) record. The school record for wins is 26 accomplished in 1998 and 2003. The 2003 squad also was the first to win the CWPA and advance to an NCAA-sponsored Final Four.
Hoosier History at the Eastern Championship
Since joining the Collegiate Water Polo Association in 2001, the Hoosiers are 11-5 at the Eastern Championship. The Cream and Crimson have placed in the top three each of the last four seasons.
In 2002, the Hoosiers lost an epic five-overtime match to Michigan, before knocking off Princeton in the third-place match. Indiana won its first Eastern title in 2003, defeating Princeton, 5-1, in the semifinals and Brown, 7-5, in the finals. In 2004, the Hoosiers fell to Hartwick in the semifinals, 6-5, before ending the season on a high note with a 9-4 victory over Brown. Indiana hosted the 2005 Eastern Championship at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center, and after knocking off Hartwick in the semifinals, the Hoosiers dropped a tight 8-7 affair to Michigan in the title tilt.
Eastern History
Overall Record at Eastern Championship: 11-5
2001 - Sixth Place (1-2) - Princeton, N.J.
4/28/01 - Massachusetts - L, 8-6
4/28/01 - Harvard - W, 14-8
4/29/01 - Michigan - L, 8-2
2002 - Third Place (3-1) - Princeton, N.J.
4/26/02 - Brown - W, 9-4
4/27/02 - Iona - W, 10-6
4/27/02 - Michigan - L, 8-7 (5OT)
4/28/02 - Princeton - W, 11-10
2003 - Champion (3-0) - Boston, Mass.
4/26/03 - George Washington - W, 9-6
4/26/03 - Princeton - W, 5-1
4/27/03 - Brown - W, 7-5
2004 - Third Place (2-1) - Lewisburg, Pa.
4/24/04 - George Washington - W, 11-6
4/24/04 - Hartwick - L, 6-5
4/24/04 - Brown - W, 9-4
2005 - Second Place (2-1) - Bloomington, Ind.
4/30/05 - George Washington - W, 11-4
4/30/05 - Hartwick - W, 7-6
5/1/05 - Michigan - L, 8-7
Soria on a Tear
While junior transfer Melissa Soria tops the Hoosiers in goals this season with 53, the Villa Park, Calif., native has caught fire recently. She led IU in scoring in seven of the last nine games, while recording hat tricks in those seven affairs. For the year, Soria has nine, three-plus goal games. On three occasions, Soria garnered five goals in victories over Marist, Sonoma State and Slippery Rock.
Though she played in 20 of the Hoosiers' first 22 games, Soria had 21 goals on the year. In the last 10 games, all starts, she notched 32 goals for an average of 3.2 per contest. Soria also tops the Hoosiers in kickouts earned with 36 on the campaign.
