No. 12 Hoosiers look to return to winning ways

The No. 12 IU water polo team is coming off a pair of tough losses to No. 2 Stanford and No. 6 Hawaii, its first two-game losing streak of the season. IU dropped to 10-6 for the season, but it will look to put the losses behind it and get back on track this weekend as the Hoosiers travel to Grove City and Slippery Rock, Penn.\nIU will be on the road again for the second straight weekend after returning from Honolulu earlier this week. The Hoosiers will face Salem International, Washington & Jefferson and Mercyhurst Saturday afternoon at Grove City and Slippery Rock and Gannon at Slippery Rock Sunday. \nThis weekend will mark the Hoosiers' second conference weekend, as they come in at 2-1. One of the victories came against Grove City, who they will face for the second time this season. The match was no contest for the Hoosiers, as they outplayed the opposition on both sides of the ball, especially on offense, scoring 13 goals and allowing only two.\nAlthough the Hoosiers may be facing some weaker competition this weekend, they know what is expected of them and that they must come out strong. \n"Since the teams we're facing will not be as good as some of that we have faced so far, we still need to come out and play hard and not drop down the level of our game due to the competition," junior Krista Peterson said.\nNone of the five teams IU will face is ranked nationally, favoring the Hoosiers in each match this weekend. In addition, IU has not lost to an unranked opponent this season. IU coach Barry King believes his team is ready to go out and take some games from its conference foes while getting better. \n"Our focus is to go out and play fundamentally sound water polo," King said. "We're not going to try anything special, just go out there get better and do our job."\nIU will look to a pair of juniors in Peterson and Kandace Waldthaler to continue its success in the pool, as they have both been forces on the offensive end this season, scoring a combined 50 of 119 Hoosier goals.\n"I've been pleased with the way Kandace has developed this season and how she has shown the desire to be effective," Kind said. "Krista has been solid for us all year long and gets the job done early. With the ability to get the opposition to focus on her, it has allowed Kandace to step up."\nDefensively, junior Jessica Goldner will look to shut down the opposition at goal alongside a group of very talented defenders. Goldner has been impressive this season in the net, averaging a little over eight saves in addition to 17 steals this year.\nOverall, the Hoosiers have played well this season and are on pace to defend their conference title and return to the NCAA Final Four. \n"We have played really well this year," Waldthaler said. "We have been playing good competition all year long, and it has helped us become a better team."\n-- Contact staff writer Matt Ostrega at mostrega@indiana.edu.