The Hoosiers’ season came to an end Friday night after they were defeated 12-11 by the Harvard Crimson at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.
IU water polo began the CWPA tournament as the four seed, and had beaten five-seed Harvard previously in the season 7-3 in Providence, Rhode Island.
Starting junior goalkeeper Jessica Gaudreault was ruled out before the game with a concussion suffered in practice this week, so freshman Davis Simmons started in goal for just the third time this season.
Simmons had played in five of IU’s games this season and recorded 18 saves while letting in 22 goals. Her save percentage of .45 was lower than Gaudreault’s this season by almost 20 percent, and she had the opportunity against Harvard to rise to the occasion.
The Hoosiers started the game out strong by jumping out to a 5-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. Junior attackers Jennifer Beadle and Sarah Young led the way in scoring for IU.
After a high-tempo second quarter that only saw one goal scored, IU went into halftime with a 5-2 lead. Simmons had looked comfortable and made several impressive saves to hold the Hoosier lead.
“In the first half she did her job,” IU Coach Ryan Castle said of Simmons. “She had a couple of bad plays here and there but she made some great blocks that I didn’t think she was going to make.”
When the ball dropped for the start of the third quarter Harvard caught fire and scored four unanswered goals before an IU timeout. The Hoosiers were lost defensively and struggled to find an answer for the Crimson run.
“We stepped back because we knew they were going to drive at us,” Castle said. “In the first half we were pressing them and then when we stepped back and gave them some space they made us pay.”
At the end of the third quarter the Hoosiers saw their lead disappear and found themselves down 10-8 entering the fourth.
Castle said he had to settle his team down after a rough quarter and encouraged them to keep fighting.
“We were a little hesitant on offense in the third quarter which I think stemmed from our loose defense,” Castle said.
The final quarter of play saw junior Sarah Myers tally two important goals and a crucial assist for IU to tie the game at 11-11. Myers was was poked in the eye by a Crimson defender earlier in the game, but she came back in and helped the Hoosiers level the score.
Castle said he was impressed with Myers’ performance in the fourth quarter.
“Myers did a really good job of stepping up and she had a lot of really good plays down the stretch,” Castle said. “She and Kelly did a good job of settling us down, and what can I say? We lost by one and it sucks.”
Myers’ last assist was a lob pass in front of net to freshman attacker Joelle Nacouzi, who spiked it in to tie the game. The crowd was energized by Nacouzi's goal, but Harvard came back on the other end and scored to take the lead for good with 55 seconds left.
Castle said after the game he told his players they needed to come back stronger in response to the loss.
“Losing anytime we represent IU sucks," Castle said. "We know we can get better and all I can ask for is that they tried their best and they did.”
