No. 14 IU water polo entered the weekend on a four-game losing streak with the chance to break it against Bucknell, George Washington and No. 10 Princeton.
The Hoosiers traveled to Hartwick University in New York for this weekend’s games and picked up two wins in a different environment than they were used to. One of the sides of Hartwick’s pool is shallower than the other, and IU struggled to adjust to the dimensions of the pool early on against Princeton.
IU fell behind early in the first half of play and trailed 8-3 entering half time. Freshman attacker Mollie Williams did some of the heavy lifting for the Hoosiers and managed to complete one of two hat tricks during the weekend.
After adjusting to the pool as the game went along, IU Coach Ryan Castle said his players began to feel more comfortable.
“We had one bad quarter against Princeton, and it was the quarter playing on the shallow end,” Castle said. “The other three quarters were solid, but our comeback was just a little too late.”
The Hoosiers played the Tigers tightly until the end but came up short in a 10-6 defeat.
In the Hoosiers’ next game, IU snapped its five-game losing streak against Bucknell, which is unranked but received votes in the latest rankings. Castle said he was impressed by Bucknell’s play this season and said he wanted his team to be ready when the time came to face them.
“We showed that we were disappointed about the Princeton loss when we came back out against Bucknell,” Castle said. “I have a lot of respect for them, and I think they’re underrated.”
Two Hoosiers scored hat tricks against the Bison, including junior Sarah Myers who scored a career-high four goals. Junior utility Sarah Young got in on the scoring as well and put three past the keeper en route to a 12-7 victory over Bucknell to end IU’s slide.
IU faced George Washington in the final game of the weekend and once again Williams came up big. She, along with junior defender Kelly Matthews and Myers, managed to score hat tricks in what was a shootout until the final buzzer when IU pulled out a 16-11 win.
Castle said Williams was important the entire weekend for IU and said she has been one of the most consistent players on the team up to this point in the season.
“She gets everything going and is always involved in our offense,” Castle said. “She’s really impressed me with her attention to detail on defense.”
Before this weekend, freshman backup goalie Davis Simmons only featured in one official game. That changed when she played one half in each of the three games at Hartwick because of her experience in shallow pools.
Junior goalie Jessica Gaudreault is used to playing in regular sized depths, and Castle said he thought having Simmons play would be an advantage for his team.
“It’s a very different type of goal,” Castle said. “Jessica is an international caliber goalkeeper, and the pool is so shallow that she had to make so many adjustments. Davis has played in shallow pools before, so I thought that she could really step up and we could rely on her.”
Castle said he was impressed with the way Simmons handled herself in her first game action in months.
“Davis just has a great attitude, and when I told her she was going to play, she was ready to go,” Castle said. “She doesn’t have the experience that Jess has, but she’s learning from her and learning along the way.”
