Water Polo Splits First Leg of ASU Invitational

Saturday, March 10

Tempe, AZ

12:30 PM

Indiana University

Arizona State

Water Polo Splits First Leg of ASU Invitational

3/10/2018 7:41:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

Box: IU-ASU Box: IU-PP

Hoosiers complete weekend tomorrow against No. 25 Fresno State

TEMPE, Ariz. – The No. 13 Hoosiers emerged from a challenging opening day of the ASU Invitational with split results in two games at Mona Plummer Aquatic Complex. Indiana (16-5, 0-1) dropped their first clash, 12-2, to No. 6 Arizona State but rebounded with an 11-4 win against Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday afternoon.

Indiana had a battle on their hands in their game with the Sagehens (7-7). Tied after a quarter, Pomona-Pitzer applied pressure with a couple of lead-taking goals as the first half came to a close. That's when seniors Sarah Young and Jennifer Beadle took charge and sparked a 5-1 run in the last five minutes of the half. Young finished the game with four goals, matching her season high, while Beadle earned her 11^th game of the year with at least two goals.

True freshman Juli Hilovsky is turning heads and coming into her own as the Hoosiers enter the third act of the regular season. She found a goal against the Sun Devils (12-4) before scoring once with a team-leading three assists against Pomona-Pitzer. Hilovsky has found 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in IU's last four games.

Game 20: No. 6 Arizona State 12, Indiana 2 // Box Score
Team              1 – 2 – 3 – 4 | F
ASU:               0 – 4 – 4 – 4 | 12
IU:                   0 – 0 – 0 – 2 | 2

The game looked like it would become a defensive battle after eight minutes. Teams exchanged blows but neither side could break through superb efforts in goal from Hoosier senior Jessica Gaudreault and Mia Rycraw from Arizona State. Gaudreault made eight saves in that quarter alone, making two stops from point-blank range.

The Sun Devils broke through early in the second quarter and it became IU's turn to respond. Indiana gained two power play possessions in a row but Arizona State killed them both and scored their second with three minutes left in the quarter. The tournament hosts ended the quarter on a 4-0 run.

Hilovsky ended the Hoosiers' scoring drought in the fourth quarter with her first goal of the weekend, assisted by Kelly Matthews. Riley Beemer opened her weekend account a minute later on an assist from Sarah Myers.

Game 21: Pomona-Pitzer 4, Indiana 11 // Box Score
Team              1 – 2 – 3 – 4 | F
P-P:                2 – 2 – 0 – 0 | 4
IU:                   1 – 5 – 4 – 1 | 11

Indiana regrouped and regained their composure to post an 11-4 win over Pomona-Pitzer in the first-ever meeting between the programs. Eight different Hoosiers registered multiple points in the contest, led by a four-goal effort from Young. Gaudreault tied a season high with 13 saves, her ninth game this year with 10 or more stops.

The Sagehens opened scoring midway through the first quarter, but the Hoosiers countered with Matthews' equalizer a minute later. Pomona-Pitzer found a power play goal on their next possession to bring a 2-1 lead into the quarter break, and extended their lead with the first goal of the second stanza.

After that, the IU offense found an extra gear. Beadle tied it up and, after another Pomona-Pitzer goal, Young scored her first pair back-to-back on assists from Emily Powell and Jennifer Beadle. Powell pushed Indiana's halftime lead to 6-4 after scoring with seven seconds left on the clock. Joelle Nacouzi provided the assist to Powell, her first of two in the game.

Young completed her season-high tally with the first two goals of the third quarter, sparking a run of five unanswered scores. Hilovsky made good use of a turnover to bury her shot with 2:39 left in the quarter. Shortly after Hilovsky's score, Matthews forced a turnover on the defensive end and started a counterattack that ended with Karrie Kozokar striking the back of the net. Powell delivered that assist to give Indiana a 10-4 lead.

The Hoosiers capped the result with Myers scoring on Indiana's first possession of the final quarter. On the defensive end, Megan Abarta recorded two fourth quarter field blocks along with two steals to help the Hoosiers shut out the Sagehens in the second half.

Up Next: No. 13 Indiana (16-5, 0-1) vs. No. 25 Fresno State (3-11)
Sunday, March 11 • 12:30 p.m. ET • Live Stats
Mona Plummer Aquatic Complex • Tempe, Ariz.

Indiana wraps up the weekend on Sunday with their final regular season game out west. It's a rematch with No. 25 Fresno State, who made their debut as a Division-I program in IU's season opener at the UCSB Winter Invite in January. The Hoosiers won that encounter, 12-6.

The game with the Bulldogs ends the weekend's varsity action, but Indiana will play exhibition games against Arizona State and Fresno State before leaving Tempe.