No. 14 IU water polo entered this weekend’s Harvard Invitational on a five-game winning streak, wins against a ranked opponent in every invite thus far and an appearance on “SportsCenter.”
The Hoosiers opened up the weekend in Boston by facing off against No. 16 UC San Diego. The Tritons were coming off a two-game losing streak in games against Pacific and No. 12 UC Santa Barbara. In a tightly contested match, IU came out on top, 7-6, and extended its streak of defeating at least one ranked opponent in every invite it has participated in this season.
Junior center Sarah Young suffered a concussion after she was hit in the head with a powerful shot in front of the net, and as a result she exited the game early and was kept out of the rest of the following games that weekend.
“We came out hot against San Diego, and then Sarah got hit in the face from about five yards out,” Castle said. “If she didn’t block that ball with her face, we wouldn’t have won. I felt like we were the better team up to that point, but after Sarah came out we were outplayed.”
Castle said even though Young was out for the weekend, junior Jennifer Beadle performed well as her replacement.
Day two of the Harvard Invitational saw IU match up against Iona and Siena, two of the Hoosiers’ weaker opponents of the season. Neither team had won a game entering the weekend. IU came out and dominated Iona from start to finish in a 15-8 win, and the matchup against Siena was even better for IU, which won, 12-1.
In the effort against Iona, junior defender Kelly Matthews managed to tie a school record of seven goals scored in a single game.
Junior goaltender Jessica Gaudreault struggled against the Gaels and allowed eight shots to get by her, the second highest amount she’s given up in a game all season after giving up 20 goals to UCLA on Jan. 21.
Against Siena, many players who don’t normally play saw a lot of minutes come their way after IU estabslihed a big lead. Castle said he was really impressed with how his team managed to be successful even though they were playing lineups they weren’t used to.
“We were able to get a lot of people some chances against Siena, and I thought that everyone played really well,” Castle said. “I was proud of our girls who don’t get a lot of playing time because they executed when we needed them to.”
IU wrapped up the weekend by taking on No. 21 Wagner in a rematch of a game that saw the Hoosiers come out on top earlier in the year. The result this time around was no different, although it was a tightly contested game in which IU pulled out a 6-5 win to complete an undefeated weekend.
“I was happy that we held Wagner to five goals because they’re a good team, and I thought they made some adjustments since the last time we played them,” Castle said.
The Hoosiers now take a nine-game winning streak and an 11-2 record into the Aztec Invite in San Diego next weekend.
