17th-ranked Hoosiers head to Eastern Championships with optimism

This weekend the Hoosiers travel to Princeton, N.J., in hopes of securing a national championship berth. IU is the fifth seed in Collegiate Water Polo Association Eastern Championships.\nThe No. 17 Hoosiers open the weekend Friday against No. 16 Brown University, the fourth seed this weekend. IU defeated Brown earlier this year 5-4. Even though IU won the last contest between the two teams, coach Barry King was not happy with the way his team performed on offense.\n"The last game was not a good offensive effort," King said. "Our success will depend on our defense. If we can hold them to four goals again, we'll be fine."\nKing said it's important to get off to a good start against Brown. Sophomore Melissa Pietras said it will help the Hoosiers the whole weekend.\n"It's important to play well against Brown because it starts the tournament," Pietras said. "You have more drive and more confidence to take into the second and third games."\nThe Hoosiers will meet ninth-seeded Iona on Saturday. King said he doesn't know too much about Iona but expects the match to be a battle.\n"They have been getting better the last couple of years. We expect it to be a tough match," King said. "Our tournament starts with high-level competition. We have to open strong and keep going."\nJunior Kristin Stanford said the Hoosiers need to have a high intensity level throughout the tournament. Pietras said that intensity also needs to carry throughout the entire length of a match.\n"We have to be able to finish games," Pietras said. "We have to play a good four quarters. We usually don't do that."\nThe Hoosier defense has carried the team, but King believes the offense will have to help take the burden off the defense. So does Pietras.\n"Our defense has been really consistent and is getting better," she said. "We just need to take some pressure off the defense by scoring some goals. We have to limit missing shots."\nPietras said the team needs to convert on their 6-on-5 opportunities. Last week in the Michigan loss, the team was 1 for 12 on their power-play chances. Stanford said it comes down to shot selection.\n"We want to limit our turnovers," Stanford said. "We need to have a good shot selection and be patient on offense."\nKing said he thinks his team is capable of winning the championship this weekend. He said the whole season has been leading to this.\n"I told them that we've been playing the level of water polo needed to win," King said. "Now it's just going in there and getting it done"