Attackers closing in on scoring record

Senior attacker Jakie Köhli doesn’t pay attention to the possibility of having the all-time IU water polo scoring record.

“It’s not something I really keep track of,” she said.

A fellow candidate for the record, junior attacker Shae Fournier said her feelings resembled those of her teammate.

“I’m more worried about our team than a personal record,” Fournier said.
The exact record, 246

career goals set by Kristin Stanford in 2003, is well within reach for both Köhli and Fournier.

Köhli, who missed the entire 2012 season due to shoulder surgery, moved into fourth place all-time during the season opener Jan. 19 against San Jose State, surpassing Nicole Redder’s mark of 182. Köhli now has 187 career scores, just 59 shy of Stanford’s record.

Köhli’s sophomore and junior seasons produced 80 and 71 goals, respectively, the first of which was an IU season record for two years. If she can stay healthy and score at the rate she maintained for those two years, the record will be hers by season’s end.

Fournier began her IU career with a 61-goal season in 2011, good for eighth-best in the IU record books at the time. Last year, she continued her scoring rampage by shattering Köhli’s record for goals in a season with 95.

Fournier now has scored 162 times in her IU career, putting her 84 goals away from Stanford’s mark. Fournier is further away from the record than Köhli, but if Fournier matches her 2012 performance, the record could wind up belonging to her within one year.

Still, neither said they are worried about breaking the record and both said they are much more concerned with helping the team succeed.

“I don’t really care about records and stuff,” Köhli said. “It’s nice that I’m up there, but I’m just trying to score to help our team win conference.”

Because of their attitudes toward the record, IU Coach Barry King said he is “not at all” worried about the possibility of a record distracting his players and disrupting team chemistry. He said he hasn’t had to put any kind of restraints on talk of the record because no one on the team ever brings it up.

King also said both Köhli and Fournier have their own unique skill sets that allow them to succeed.
“Shae has an overpowering fastball for the most part,” he said. “She shoots the ball real well with balance. She has great legs that allow her to get quality shots off in tight space.”

Köhli’s goal-scoring, however, starts from the opposite end of the pool, he said.
“Most of Jakie’s opportunities come generated out of her work on the defensive end,” King said. “She gets a lot of clean touches and easy looks on the counterattack. She’s earned it 20 meters away.”

Now with both seeing major action in the pool, there will be only so many shots to go around.

Fournier said this is a positive.

“It’s a good thing, because we both play opposite sides of the pool,” she said. “It makes our team a lot bigger of a threat than last year ... Last year, it was me taking a lot of the shots that now can be distributed within the team, which I’m happy for. It’s definitely good.”