Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Harvard (CWPA Eastern Championship)
Hoosiers Play to Day One Split at Eastern Championship
4/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
April 29, 2006
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The No. 18 Indiana water polo team split its first two games at the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Championship on April 29 at the Smith Swim Center. The Hoosiers lost a heartbreaker to Bucknell in the opening game of the tournament, 6-5, in double overtime, before rebounding with a 7-6 victory over Harvard. The Hoosiers moved to 23-11 overall on the season.
After allowing the only goal of the first period against Bucknell, the Hoosiers scored the games' next four goals of the game to open up a 4-1 advantage. IU failed to score in the opening 12:57 of the contest, but notched tallies on back-to-back possession to gain a 2-1 lead at the half.
Junior Melissa Soria put the Hoosiers on the board with 1:03 remaining in the half. Fellow classmate Brooke Zimmerman dumped the ball into the post to Soria, who backhanded a shot past the out-rushing Bucknell goalkeeper. Less than 30 seconds later, it was Zimmerman's turn. Junior Kara Woolley passed the ball to Zimmerman on the two-meter line, and the Calgary, Alberta, Canada native wrapped the ball inside the right post.
Indiana extended its lead to 3-1 with the lone goal of the third period. With 59 seconds remaining in the stanza, Woolley scored on a rope to the upper right corner from the left side of the perimeter. Junior Kristin Zernicke notched the assist on the play finding Woolley for the marker.
Soria recorded her second tally of the contest on the Hoosiers' opening possession of the final period. After senior Janis Pardy fed the ball to Soria in the post, the Villa Park, Calif., native spun her defender and finished into the left side of the net.
Bucknell would not go away as it scored the final three goals of regulation, including two in a 15 second span over the final 30 seconds to send the game to overtime. The Bison scored with the six-on-five advantage to close that gap to 4-2 with 4:49 remaining. A lob with 39 seconds left cut the IU deficit to one to make things interesting.
It appeared as though Indiana would have a chance to dwindle some time off the clock before Bucknell earned its final possession. A Bucknell defender fouled Zernicke three straight times without allowing the Hoosier junior to advance the ball down the pool. The referee whistled Zernicke for a delay of game resulting in a turnover, and sending Bucknell out to a one-on-one situation with sophomore goalkeeper Jackie Pyrz. Bucknell scored to tie the game with 24 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, the Hoosiers had one last chance before the final horn. Zimmerman saw her attempt with five second remaining clang off the left post, sending the game to overtime.
Zimmerman opened the scoring in the overtime period. Following an ordinary foul, Zimmerman drove to the let post, where Soria found her with a pass. Zimmerman's shot hit off the crossbar, went down and in to give IU a 5-4 lead. Bucknell evened the game on the very next possession. The Bucknell player kicked off a Hoosier defender and lobbed a shot into the right side of the net to tie the game at five.
The end of the first three-minute overtime period brought about a bit of controversy. With under 10 seconds remaining, Soria was called for a kickout to give Bucknell the power play. As the clock ticked down, the Bison attempted to get off a shot before the end of the period. Pyrz blocked the ball down, and it appeared as though the game would remain tied. As Pyrz was blocking the ball down, one of the referees whisled and singalled for another Hoosier ejection.
After a conference between the two referees with zeros showing on the clock, they ruled the ejection occurred meaning the Hoosiers' were down two players to start the second overtime period. Bucknell took full advantage, won the sprint and took a 20-second timeout to set up the play. Only 15 seconds into the second overtime period, the Bison scored what proved to be the game winner to go up 6-5.
The Hoosiers had one last ditch effort with a second remaining. After an offensive foul on Bucknell, Indiana took possession with only three second remaining. In that time, a Bucknell player was whistled for an ejection and Zimmerman's shot with a second remaining was blocked by the Bucknell goalkeeper to seal the upset.
In total, Indiana received 12 ejections compared to just six for Bucknell. The Bison scored three of their six goals with the power-play advantage, while the Hoosiers were 0-for-6 with the man advantage. Pyrz finished with 13 saves for the game, including six power-play blocks. Zernicke equaled a career high with six steals, while Zimmerman had three.
In the nightcap, the Hoosiers dug themselves out of an early 3-0 hole to garner a 7-6 victory over Harvard. Indiana scored twice in the final minute of the first period to close the gap to 3-2 at the first intermission. After Soria drew a kickout in the post to give IU the six-on-five advantage with 51 seconds remaining, sophomore Brittany Estrada wrapped up shot into the left corner of the net after a dish from Zernicke at the right post. Soria added a backhanded goal of her own with just six second showing on the clock in the first to close the gap to one.
Estrada tallied her second marker of the game on the Hoosiers' opening possession of the second period to even the game at three. Zernicke again assisted on the play, dumping the ball to Estrada on the left post. Estrada scored with a shot from the far post with 42 seconds gone in the second stanza. Harvard scored on a shot from the perimeter with a minute remaining in the first half to take a one-goal lead into the locker room.
Soria scored off a rebounded shot to even the game at four with 6:40 remaining in the third period. The teams traded power-play goals over a minute span. Zernicke fed Pardy for the Hoosier goal to once again tie the contest at five with 4:39 remaining in the third. Zimmerman skipped a shot into the left side of the net with four minutes left in the period to give IU its first lead of the game at 6-5.
Harvard tied the game before the third period buzzer on a shot that just snuck past Pyrz. Zimmerman added her second goal of the game and the eventual game-winner with 4:04 remaining in the fourth period. Zernicke sent a pass to Zimmerman, who scored a six-on-five goal on a bullet into the Harvard cage.
Pyrz finished with six saves in the contest, while Soria led IU with a career-high four steals. Zimmeran added three steals and four kickouts earned to go along with her two goals. Zernicke tied a career high with four assists in the win over the Crimson.
The Hoosiers will face Brown in the fifth-place game of the CWPA Eastern Championship. The game is slated for 10:30 a.m., on Sunday, April 30.
Players Mentioned
