Indiana University Athletics
Soria Earns All-Eastern Championship Honors
5/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
May 3, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Junior Melissa Soria earned first team Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) All-Eastern Championship honors, the conference office announced. Soria helped the Hoosiers to a fifth-place finish at the championship in Providence, R.I., on April 29-30. She led the Hoosiers with eight goals during the three games of the tournament.
Soria opened with two goals in the Hoosiers' heartbreaking 6-5 overtime loss at the hands of Bucknell. The Villa Park, Calif., native added an assist, two steals and a kickout drawn against the Bison. Against Harvard, Soria notched a pair of tallies in the 7-6 victory over the Crimson. She also recorded a career-high four steals in the effort to go along with an assist and two drawn ejections.
In the fifth-place game against Brown, Soria finished with her 10th hat trick of the season. She finished with four goals, including the eventual game-winner in the first overtime period. For the season, the Hoosiers were 10-0 when Soria scored a hat trick. She also added a trio of drawn ejections where the Hoosiers were 4-of-6 with the power play.
With her eight goals in the tournament, Soria's season total reached 61, making her only the third IU player (on five occasions) to surpass the 60-goal plateau. Along with leading the team in goals, Soria also topped the squad with 42 drawn ejections. She earned second team CWPA All-Western Division honors after helping the Hoosiers to their second consecutive regular season division crown.
Soria finished the season on a tear leading the Hoosiers in scoring in 10 of the last 12 matches. In eight of those matches, Soria notched a hat trick, including a trio of five-goal performances. Though she played in 20 of the Hoosiers' first 22 games, Soria had 21 goals on the year. In the last 13 games, all starts, she notched 40 goals.
Eastern Championship Awards
Most Valuable Player: Bronwen Knox, Hartwick College
Coach of the Year; Alan Huckins, Hartwick College
First Team All-Eastern Championship
Bronwen Knox, Hartwick College
Megan Hausmann, University of Michigan
Elyse Colgan, Princeton University
Melissa Soria, Indiana University
Shana Welch, University of Michigan
Meagan Gins, Bucknell University
Kristen Davis, University of Michigan - Goaltender
