Hoosiers win CWPA East, earn trip to NCAA Championships

The IU water polo team is going to the NCAA Championship for the second time in program history.

Indiana used stingy defense and a timely goal by freshman attacker Shae Fournier to defeat top-seeded Michigan 5-3 and earn a Collegiate Water Polo Association Eastern Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth.

Fournier scored with two seconds remaining in the first half to give the Hoosiers a 4-3 lead at intermission.

“That was gigantic because we were on our heels offensively a little bit,” IU coach Barry King said. “If we would’ve gone into half tied, there would have been some feelings of last year and other games we let get away. Then (junior goalkeeper) Cassie Wyckoff took over from there.”

IU did not allow a goal by the Wolverines in the second half.

“To be successful on defense, you have to communicate and keep your head on a swivel,” said Wyckoff, who was named tournament MVP. “That’s exactly what our girls did. They communicated all over the pool.”

However, prior to beating Michigan, the No. 3 seeded Hoosiers defeated No. 6 Harvard 7-6 on Friday and No. 2 Hartwick 10-9 on Saturday.

Junior attacker Jakie Köhli matched a career high and school record, scoring six goals to help the Hoosiers advance to the finals for a rematch against the rival Wolverines, a match senior utility player Lauren Wyckoff highly anticipated.

“Huge, huge rival,” she said after the victory against Hartwick. “We lost to them (Michigan) last year in the finals and earlier this year by one goal. We have seven seniors. We’re going to go after them. Hard. We’re going to win.”

Against Hartwick, it wasn’t until the third quarter that either team enjoyed a lead greater than one goal. Senior utility player Kara Butler’s second goal gave IU a 7-5 lead, which would grow to a four-point margin. Ten seconds later, Hartwick answered, making it 9-6. Köhli scored the Hoosiers’ final goal 11 seconds later to give IU a 10-6 lead. A late Hartwick rally would not be enough, as the Hoosiers escaped with a 10-9
upset victory.

King said his team sought to confirm one objective against Hartwick.
“We wanted to prove that we were the better squad,” he said. “We played four hard quarters. We showed what kind of group we are.”

On Friday, IU withstood another rally by Harvard. The Hoosiers enjoyed their biggest lead at 7-4 with 3:39 to go in the game. One minute and 55 seconds later, the Crimson had cut its deficit to one. IU’s defense held in the remaining 1:39 to preserve the win. Wyckoff earned her 16th save with just less than 35 seconds to play.

After the Hoosiers’ victory, the coaches jumped in the pool to celebrate with their players.