Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Brown (CWPA Eastern Championship)
King Notches 200th Win as Hoosiers Down Brown
4/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
April 30, 2006
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The No. 18 Indiana water polo team defeated Brown, 10-8, in the fifth-place game of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Championship as Indiana head coach Barry King recorded his 200th career victory at the helm of the IU program. After dropping a heartbreaker in the first round of the tournament to Bucknell, the Hoosiers closed the season with a pair of victories. Indiana used a three-goal surge in the overtime periods to hold off the host Bears and improved to 24-11 overall.
Senior Janis Pardy established a new school record for single-season assists. She finished the contest with three helpers to bring her season total to 47. The amount bettered the school mark of 45 held by Deb Simone during the 1999 season. Junior Melissa Soria recorded her 10th hat trick on the season with four goals to lead the Hoosiers to victory.
After Brown tied the game at seven with a pair of power-play goals at the 3:08 and 2:17 mark of the fourth period, the Hoosiers had an opportunity to end it in regulation. Senior Janis Pardy made a steal on the defensive end to give the Hoosiers possession. Following a 20-second timeout, junior Brooke Zimmerman dumped the ball to fellow classmate Melissa Soria in the post, but Soria saw backhanded her attempt at the game-winner bounced between the Brown goalkeeper and left post to keep the ball out of the net.
The Hoosiers took control early in the first overtime period and cruised to the victory. It was Pardy who ignited the Hoosiers to start the overtime period. She made a pair of steals on the defensive end that led to counter attack goals for the Hoosiers. Senior Clare Meadows was the beneficiary of a Pardy dish for the first goal. Meadows raced out on the counter, Pardy led her perfectly and Meadows finished the breakaway opportunity into the left side of the net 35 seconds into the overtime period.
After a pair of Brown shots hit the crossbar, it was again Pardy making the steal on the defensive end. She found a surging Soria on the weak side, and Soria went far post with a shot to give IU an insurmountable 9-7 advantage.
Sophomore goalkeeper Jackie Pyrz did a her part to keep the Hoosier advantage in the second overtime period. The Harleysville, Pa., native made a pair of six-on-five saves on back-to-back Brown possessions to keep the Bears off the board. Meadows added her second goal of overtime to ice the contest with 42 seconds remaining. With the man-advantage, the Hoosiers worked the clock before junior Kristin Zernicke found Meadows at the left post. Meadows initially mishandled the ball, but had the time to pick it up and finish into the left side of the net. Brown added a meaningless goal off an IU turnover with less than 10 seconds remaining.
Brown opened the scoring with a six-on-five goal at the 6:27 mark of the first period. Soria answered for the Hoosiers just 11 seconds later. Zimmerman dumped the ball to Soria, who wrapped in a backhanded shot. The Hoosiers finished the first period with two more goals to lead 3-1 at the first intermission.
Zernicke assisted on both goals for IU. With 3:44 remaining in the first period, Zernicke sprinted up the right side of the pool, before finding Soria, who finished with a skipping backhand to the right post. The Hoosiers used the power play to their advantage with 1:36 remaining in the first. After Soria drew the kickout in the post, Zernicke found senior Courtney Livak on the left post, and she finished inot the left side of the net.
Brown twice closed the gap to one goal in the second period. The Bears scored the opening goal of the period at the 3:51 mark with the man advantage, before Pardy answered with a six-on-five goal of her own to stake IU to a 4-2 cushion less than a minute later. Zimmerman drew the ejection in transition and Zernicke found Pardy with a cross-pool pass from right to left. With 1:34 left in the second, Brown scored on a shot that just got past Pyrz to send the Hoosiers to the locker room with a 4-3 lead.
Brown pulled back even at four with two minutes remaining in the third period. After IU had fended off a six-on-four disadvantage, Brown scored with the man advantage to eliminate the deficit. The Hoosiers used the counter to retake the lead with 35 seconds left in the third. Pardy led a streaking Meadows down the right side of the pool, creating a three-on-two opportunity for IU. Meadows drew the defender and found sophomore Brittany Estrada wide open in the middle of the pool. Estrada scored off the water into the left side of the net for her only marker of the contest.
IU twice pushed its lead to two goals in the fourth period at 6-4 and 7-5, but the Bears battled back to force overtime. With a minute gone in the fourth, Soria gave IU the man-advantage, drawing an ejection in the post. Pardy sent a pass to Zernicke on the left side, and Zernicke stepped in, finishing with a shot to the near post over the Brown goalkeeper. After Brown pulled back to within one at 6-5, IU answered with a Soria goal. Meadows fed Soria in the post, and she whipped a backhand into the right corner of the net with 3:41 left.
Pyrz finished with 10 saves in goal for the Hoosiers, while Pardy had a career-high tying five steals to lead IU on the defensive end. Meadows capped her Hoosier career with two goals, two assists and a trio of swipes. Zernicke led IU with four assists. Livak finished with three field blocks and two steals to go along with her first-period goal.
The Hoosiers' senior class of Courtney Livak, Clare Meadows, Bridget McKeon and Janis Pardy finished its career as the all-time winningest class in school history. The group combined for 94 wins during its four years on campus.
Players Mentioned
