17th time's a charm: IU finally beats Michigan

The IU water polo team set out this weekend to do something it hadn't done in its last 16 attempts -- beat Michigan. That was accomplished when the No. 11 Hoosiers upset the No. 9 Wolverines 7-6 Saturday at the Michigan Invitational at Ann Arbor. The team finished the weekend with a 2-1 record.\nThe Michigan game was a classic Indiana-Michigan match-up, with the outcome in doubt right up to the final minutes of the game. The teams entered the fourth period at 4-4. Throughout the final period, Michigan answered every IU goal. Finally, junior defender Emily Schmitt scored on a pass from junior defender Clare Meadows to put the Hoosiers up for good with less than two minutes to play. \n"It was a typical Indiana-Michigan game," coach Barry King said. "It was gonna be a matter of getting the last score, and it was us this time. We converted opportunities one more time than they did."\nSenior attacker Kandace Waldthaler converted her share of opportunities, scoring three goals for her first hat trick of the season.\n"It felt good to come out and do well, I just played as hard as I could," Waldthaler said. "It was definitely a team effort all around, but I knew that I needed to step it up." \nThe victory against Michigan was much needed after IU dropped its season opener to No. 1 UCLA. The Bruins, featuring four members of the 2004 U.S. women's water polo Olympic team, defeated IU 14-2 in the first game of the day Saturday. \nThe Bruins' physical style of play dominated the game. They forced 23 Hoosier turnovers that led to eight counterattack goals.\nWaldthaler and fellow senior attacker Krista Peterson scored the only Hoosier goals of the game. Senior goalie Jessica Goldner led the Hoosiers on the defensive end with 11 saves and two steals. Junior defender Clare Meadows also had two steals for IU. \n"(UCLA) has quite a few players with some solid experience," King said. "It was a good opening game. We took some lessons that we learned against UCLA and used them against Michigan."\nThose lessons obviously carried over to the final game of the weekend, as IU defeated Colorado State. 13-3 Sunday. The Hoosiers dominated the game from the start, scoring 10 unanswered goals before the Rams finally got on the board. After scoring her first goal of her career against Michigan, freshman center Carolyn Conway let loose on Sunday by posting a hat trick against Colorado State.\n"I felt a lot more comfortable in the pool," Conway said. "I kind of got over the first-day jitters."\nKing said he believes that Conway's development over the weekend, as well as her potential, is indicative of the entire team.\n"We think that she can play on our level," King said. "It's expected that she'll get even better and help us even more."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Steve \nBrennan at sgbrenna@indiana.edu.