Hoosiers go 3-1 in first round of post-season play

Although the No. 15 Hoosiers water polo team failed to notch a victory over top seed and rival No. 10 Michigan Saturday, the weekend was a success. \nIn the championship game of the Collegiate Water Polo Associations' Southern Division the Hoosiers faced off against a familiar and unfriendly foe -- the Wolverines. IU found itself down 4-0 at halftime against Michigan and never recovered. \nThe turning point of the game occurred with a little over four minutes left in the second quarter when senior Jamie Marley was kicked in the mouth by a Wolverine player. No injury timeout was called and play continued until coach Barry King had to use one of his own timeouts. \nMarley was taken to a nearby hospital, and later to Bloomington Hospital when the team returned home Sunday night. Likely out for the rest of the year, Marley will be sorely missed by the Hoosier team. The senior co-captain led the team in assists.\n"We really just didn't convert on our 6-on-5 advantages," King said in a statement. "We had missed opportunities today, and obviously losing Jamie was tough for us as well."\nWith Marley out, the Hoosiers tried to come back after halftime with two goals from freshman Bridget McKeon. But it just wasn't enough as the Hoosiers lost the game, 6-2. \n"We played well against Michigan, but the important thing is we have another chance to play them at Eastern's," senior Kristin Stanford said. "We played a couple of really solid games, and hopefully it will carry over to Eastern's and when we play Michigan again."\nTo be able to play Michigan, the Hoosiers first had to beat a talented No. 13 Princeton team, which King described earlier in the week as "having two of the best players in the country" in\nAdele McCarthy-Beauvais and Jenny Edwards. \nThe defense for IU was the story of the game. Junior goalkeeper Jessica Goldner had one of the best games of her career. The Los Altos Hill, Calif., native stopped 14 of 26 shots, including a four meter penalty shot that grazed her finger tips.\nAlso on the defensive end, senior Ginger Wang and junior Kristi Streefkerk effectively shut down McCarthy-Beauvais, as she managed only one shot.\nOn the offensive side of the ball, Melissa Pietras led the way for the Hoosiers with two goals. No other IU player had more than one goal as Stanford, Wang, McKeon, sophomore Krista Peterson and freshman Emily Schmitt all contributed goals to the Hoosiers 7-4 victory. \n"We played good, and we had a really solid win against Princeton," Stanford said. "The team defense was really good, and the offense played good as well."\nIn the first game of the tournament the Hoosiers dominated Grove City, winning 14-0 behind a career-high six goals from Peterson. \nIn the second game, Peterson continued her scoring streak with four goals, to lead the Hoosiers to a 15-5 win over Villanova. \nWith three victories on the weekend, the Hoosiers qualified for the CWPA's Eastern Championships, April 25-26.