No. 10 Indiana Outlasts Colorado State, 9-6
ANN
ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 10 Indiana Hoosiers women's water polo team used
a four-goal fourth quarter to defeat Colorado State and wrap up play at
the Michigan Kick-Off on Sunday. Indiana (2-1) is off to its best start
since the 2007 season. “I thought we executed in the
fourth quarter when we needed to,” said Indiana head coach Barry King.
“It was a productive weekend overall and we just need to continue
growing as a team.” The Hoosiers were led in scoring by
sophomore Shae Fournier with four goals, including a fourth period hat
trick. The four-goal effort tied a career-high for the Winnipeg,
Manitoba native. Sophomore Amanda Redfern notched
two goals for Indiana and the freshmen trio of Summer Creighton,
Colleen McNaught, and Shelby Taylor had one each. Senior goalkeeper Cassie Wyckoff recorded 10 saves in the win, marking her 35th double-digit save outing of her career. Colorado State found the back of the cage first, scoring from the post at the 5:54 mark of the opening quarter. The
Hoosiers would respond a minute later as Redfern earned a 6-on-5 chance
and found Creighton for the score to tie the game, 1-1. After a CSU
backhand, the combination of Redfern and Creighton connected for each
of the next two Indiana goals with Redfern converting both goals to
give the Hoosiers a 3-2 lead heading into the second quarter. Indiana
looked to pull away late in the second stanza following a power play
earned by McNaught as freshman Nina Escobedo found an open Fournier for
the score. A minute later, Taylor drew an ordinary foul and rifled in a
shot from just outside five meters to give the Hoosiers a 5-2 lead at
the break. The third period belonged to the Rams as they
converted three consecutive goals to even things up at 5-5 heading into
the fourth. Fournier went to work early in the fourth,
nailing a pair of long range goals during the first two minutes of the
period to give Indiana a 7-5 lead. CSU pulled back within
one with 6:16 to play, but Indiana sealed the game with two goals in
the final minutes by McNaught and Fournier. The Hoosiers
will be back in action on January 28-29 in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Indiana will open the Gaucho Invitational against Concordia (Calif.) at
10:10 a.m. PT on Saturday.
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