After No. 15 Indiana water polo took a nail-biting loss April 6 to Arizona State University, it looked to snap a four-game losing streak with two away weekend matches against No. 17 San Jose State University and No. 3 Stanford University.
Indiana broke even over the weekend, defeating San Jose State by a comfortable margin but couldn’t keep up with Stanford’s explosive offense.
In both matches, the Hoosiers failed to convert on power plays, scoring three times out of the 13 chances they had.
Indiana began its two-game slate April 13 against SJSU. The Spartans got on the board first with a goal in the opening minutes, but Indiana quickly responded a minute later with a goal of its own by junior center Sophia Sollie. It was quiet for almost three minutes, but Indiana captured the lead from a powerplay, resulting in a goal from graduate utility player Zoe Crouch with two minutes left in the first quarter.
Neither team notched another goal within the final two minutes, so Indiana went into the second frame with a slight 2-1 advantage.
The second quarter started with action, as junior attacker Skylar Kidd logged her first goal of the match for Indiana 50 seconds into the quarter. The Spartans responded in less than 20 seconds, narrowing Indiana’s lead to one. The Hoosiers’ lead was only one goal for a moment as Sollie earned her second goal of the match 15 seconds after the Spartans’ previous goal, expanding the advantage back to two goals.
Each team bagged one goal in the final four minutes of the second quarter to put the Hoosiers up 5-3 heading into the break.
Returning from the break, Indiana dominated the third quarter, shutting down the Spartans’ offense by allowing zero goals. The Hoosiers also earned three goals during the frame, with Sollie and senior defender Kallie White contributing for them. Indiana held onto a firm 8-3 lead entering the final quarter.
The Hoosiers kept SJSU from catching up in the fourth quarter, with both teams logging two goals each. This secured the Hoosiers’ 10-5 victory and ended their losing streak.
Indiana’s second match came less than 24 hours after the first one, against the No. 3 Stanford Cardinal.
The Cardinal’s offense got off to a quick start in the first frame, scoring the first three goals of the match. It took a while for the Hoosiers to respond, but sophomore utility player Nicole Tyner scored on a powerplay, giving them their first goal of the first quarter. Stanford added one more goal at the end the quarter to keep a three-goal lead at 4-1.
The second quarter was quiet for both teams as Stanford logged two goals, and Indiana notched one goal within the last minute by junior attacker Skylar Kidd, leaving the score 6-2 at halftime.
Indiana’s offense struggled coming out of halftime, as the Cardinal held it scoreless in the third quarter. Stanford attained two goals, giving it a comfortable 9-2 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
Stanford never allowed Indiana to close the gap, outscoring it 4-2 en route to a 13-4 loss for the Hoosiers.
Indiana will have its final regular season match at noon Saturday when it travels to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to face the Michigan Wolverines.
