Indiana University
Sonoma State (UC-Davis Shootout)
Hoosiers Notch Fifth Straight 20-Win Season
4/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
April 9, 2006
DAVIS, Calif. - For the fifth straight season and eighth time in the nine-year history of the program, the Indiana water polo team notched its 20th win of the season with a 13-9 victory over Sonoma State on day two of the Davis Shootout on April 9. Junior Brooke Zimmerman equaled a school record with five assists against the Seawolves, while fellow classmate Melissa Soria scored a career-high tying five goals in the victory. Earlier in the day, the Hoosiers dropped a 10-3 decision to No. 4 Loyola Marymount. With the day two split, the Hoosiers are 20-9 on the season.
"It is a testament to the hard work of the ladies that we can win 20 games a season," Indiana head coach Barry King said. "We put in a good weekend of work, and this is another building block in our push for the divisional and conference championships. We want to be back in Davis in May for the NCAA Championship. I felt like we played a much better match than the score would indicate against Loyola Marymount, and the team did a good job of coming back with a victory over Sonoma State."
The Hoosiers jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage against Sonoma State. Zimmerman notched her first helper of the day as she found senior Clare Meadows on the weak side with the Hoosiers on the counter. Meadows scored to the far post on the Hoosiers first possession just 30 seconds into the match. Meadows returned the favor to Zimmerman for the second goal of the match as Zimmerman scored from the top of the key to the left corner.
After the Seawolves pulled within one with a goal on their next possession at the 4:19 mark of the opening period, the Hoosiers scored three straight to end the frame. With three minutes remaining, Soria notched her first tally of the contest with a turn and finish in the post. Zernicke and Soria then scored on back-to-back possessions off dishes from senior Janis Pardy. Zernicke fired in a shot from seven meters out, while Soria gave IU a 5-1 lead with a marker from the post.
Each team scored a goal in the second period, but the Hoosiers retained the four-goal cushion, 6-2, at the break. Sonoma State scored from the perimeter 15 seconds in the second frame. IU regained its four-goal lead with a six-on-five goal with 20 ticks remaining in the half. After junior Jaclyn Tameris drew an ejection in transition to give IU the power play, Zimmerman found Calvert, who scored to the left corner of the cage from the left post.
Both teams turned up the offensive pressure in the third period as a total of 10 goals were put on the board in the stanza. The Seawolves had the upper hand with six of those goals to close within two before the end of the frame. Sonoma State carried over an ejection from the end of the first half into the third period and made the most of it with a power-play goal 12 seconds in. Sophomore goalkeeper Jackie Pyrz led Soria on the counter, and Soria answered the Seawolves' goal a minute later.
The Hoosiers scored a trio of goals over the final two minutes of the third stanza but the Seawolves answered with five of their own. The two teams traded goals over the final minutes of the third with Pardy notching a pair for the Hoosiers. Her final one came with 21 seconds remaining in the frame and IU on the six-on-five advantage. Junior Claire Nicholson fed Pardy with a nice pass to the right post, and the former Canadian Junior International finished to the far side of the cage.
Zernicke stepped in from the top of the key and fired a shot to the left side of the net. The marker came at the 4:33 mark of the final stanza and with the Hoosiers on the man advantage. Soria notched her fifth and final goal of the contest to push the lead to 12-8. Senior Bridget McKeon dumped the ball to Soria on the left side of the two meter, and she pushed the ball just over the outstretched arm of the Sonoma State goalkeeper. After the Seawolves pulled back within three on a score from the perimeter, Zimmerman provided the final margin. The Calgary, Alberta, Canada native rifled a shot from the seven meter with 51 seconds remaining.
Soria scored her seventh hat trick of the season and equaled her career high she established earlier this season. The Villa Park, Calif., native had five goals in IU's victory over Marist on March 26 at the Fluid Five Challenge. Zimmerman became the fourth Hoosier to register five assists in a game. She tied the school mark of Kara Woolley (vs. Penn State-Behrend on March 27, 2004), Kim Steele (vs. Washington & Jefferson on April 20, 2002) and Deb Simone (vs. Santa Clara on March 13, 1999).
Pyrz recorded her first double-digit save game of the weekend with 10 blocks against the Seawolves. To go along with two goals and two assists, Pardy bettered her career high with five steals. Senior Courtney Livak led the Hoosiers with three kickouts earned.
In the matchup against LMU, the Lions scored first with a skip shot from the right side of the perimeter at the 5:22 mark of the first period. The lead was short lived as the Hoosiers responded with a goal on the ensuing possession. Meadows scored on a lob shot from the left side of the perimeter. The ball bounced off the right post and into the net to even the match at one. The iron would not be as kind to the Hoosiers for the rest of the match. Indiana had 10 shots clang off either the crossbar or post during the contest. At the first-period break, the Hoosier and Lions were tied at one. Pyrz was able to keep the Lions at bay with four first-period saves, including one with the man disadvantage.
Loyola Marymount scored three unanswered goals to open the second period. On the opening possession of the second frame, LMU scored from the right side of the perimeter on a shot that Pyrz was able to get a hand on, but could not keep it out of the left corner of the goal. The Hoosiers pulled to within two at 4-2 on Meadows second goal of the match. After Soria drew an ejection in the post for IU, Zimmerman lob a pass to the right post where Meadows flicked a backhanded shot into the right side of the cage with 1:47 remaining in the half. The Lions scored two goals over the next 47 seconds to close the half with a 6-2 advantage.
The score remained the same as neither team could find the scoring column for the majority of the third period. LMU extended its lead to 7-2 on a shot that was just pushed across the goal line with a minute remaining in the period. IU drew back within four on a four-meter penalty shot goal by Pardy. Soria drew the foul in the post to give IU the scoring opportunity. IU could not find the answer in the fourth period as LMU scored three goals for the final margin.
Pyrz finished with nine saves against the Lions. Pardy finished with a team-high three steals to go along with an assist. Soria and Zernicke each drew a pair of kickouts against LMU.
The Hoosiers will have a week off before hosting the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Western Division Championship on April 22-23. IU is the top seed in the event and will play at 11:30 a.m. and 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, April 22. Indiana's opponents are still to be determined by the final Western Division standings. The fourth and fifth place finishers in the regular season standings will be the opponents for IU on the opening day of the championship. The title game is slated for noon on Sunday, April 23, at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.
Players Mentioned
