IU comes back to win 1st regular-season title

For the first time in program history, the IU water polo team is the regular season College Water Polo Association Western Division champion. The No. 9 Hoosiers defeated No. 11 Michigan 7-6 Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich.\n"It was an important win for us psychologically to back up our performance from earlier in the year," said IU coach Barry King. "I thought we played particularly well. We got good, solid performances from a lot of people."\nTrailing after three periods, IU tied the game in the fourth period. The Hoosiers had an opportunity to win the game with 20 seconds left in regulation, but freshman center Carolyn Conway's break-away shot was denied -- sending the game to overtime. Michigan scored the first goal of the extra session, but IU answered with two goals of its own. Junior attacker Janis Pardy found the back of the net with 54 seconds remaining to give the Hoosiers the victory.\n"I was totally in the moment," Pardy said. "After I scored I did not even realize that it was the end of the game. I just wanted to keep going."\nThe victory was one of four the Hoosiers totaled during spring break. The team also beat then-No. 19 Arizona State 6-5 March 13 in Tempe, Ariz., and followed the win against Michigan by beating Brown 4-2 and California Lutheran 14-2 Saturday. Senior attacker Kandace Waldthaler recorded her fourth hat-trick of the season. The two-time CWPA player of the week scored four goals against Arizona State.\n"We played really well," Waldthaler said. "We learn something every single game to prepare us for the future. Each time we get a big win like against Michigan it gives us a lot of confidence."\nThe Hoosiers also dropped three games during the break -- falling to No. 3 California State University-Long Beach and No. 13 University of California-Irvine March 12 in Tempe and No. 7 Loyola Marymount Sunday in Ann Arbor. The team is now 17-8 on the season. The next contest for the Hoosiers will be the Fluid Five April 2-3 at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. It will be the last weekend of competition before the post-season.\n"We are looking forward to getting some rest," King said. "It has been a long month and a lot of time on the road. We are all looking forward to being home for a bit. We are really rounding into form, making opponents work hard to score goals. That's good for us as we move toward the post-season." \n- Contact Staff Writer Steve Brennan at sgbrenna@indiana.edu.