Hoosiers take third at Eastern Championship

Regulation wasn't enough time to determine the Hoosiers' fate. Neither was four overtimes. It took a fifth and final overtime Saturday to decide who would move on the the Eastern Championships title game. And the team that moved on was Michigan. The rival Wolverines won 8-7 victory, and IU ended up taking third at the Eastern Championships with a victory over Princeton this past weekend.\nThe Hoosiers started off the weekend with a 9-4 victory over Brown. IU jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. Freshman Krista Peterson led the Hoosiers with three goals.\nIU took on Iona in the first game Saturday. Another productive first quarter had the Hoosiers up 6-2. IU would hang on the win the match 10-6 thanks to four goals from Peterson and three from junior Kristin Stanford. With those goals, Stanford became the first Hoosier to pass the 60-goal mark for the season.\nIU and Michigan faced off in the afternoon for what would turn out to be a classic battle. The score was tied 4-4 at the half and 6-6 after the third. Sophomore Melissa Pietras scored in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 7-7.\nIU and Michigan had several chances in the overtimes, but Michigan's Julie Nisbet scored with 42 seconds left in the fifth overtime.\n"It was a great battle between two great teams," IU coach Barry King said. "We got excellent effort from everyone in the pool. We are disappointed that we lost, but we are not disappointed at all with the effort the girls gave."\nIU bounced back Sunday with an 11-10 victory over Princeton. The win gave the Hoosiers third place for the tournament. Pietras had two goals and an assist for the Hoosiers.\n"I thought we played a good game, and it was a nice way to end the season," King said. "At halftime, we told the girls we wanted them to fight and get some easy opportunities on the counter. We did an exceptional job in the game, but especially in the third period. We had four counter attack goals in the second half. After a disappointing loss like (Saturday) night, it was great to see our team comeback and get a victory."\nThe third-place finish was better than the sixth-place finish IU had last year. The Hoosiers ended their season with a record of 21-14.