Hoosiers fall short of title, take third in CWPA tournament

The No. 10 Hoosier women's water polo squad wrapped up a third consecutive 20-win season this past weekend but, unfortunately, fell short of defending its CWPA Conference championship. However, IU took third place in Lewisburg, Penn., as it defeated No. 20 Brown 9-4 Sunday afternoon and finished the season with a 20-10 record.\nThe third-seeded Cream and Crimson hit the water against George Washington in the CWPA quarterfinals Saturday morning after a first-round bye. IU quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the Colonials in the first period and rolled from that point on, as it defeated the sixth seed 11-6 and moved into the semifinals.\nJunior Kandace Waldthaler led the Hoosiers on the offensive end, as she found the back of the net four times in the match. Senior Kristy Streefkerk had a helping hand in the victory as well, netting a pair of goals for the Hoosiers. \nIn the semifinal match, the Hoosiers faced off against No. 14 Hartwick -- the second seed in the tournament. Hartwick had defeated IU earlier in the season in a sudden match at the Bucknell Invite. The Hoosiers were looking to avenge the loss to Hawks as well as move on to defend their conference title in the championship match. \nIU fell behind early, as Hartwick struck first with two quick goals in the opening period. The Hoosiers would come within a goal after junior Krista Peterson scored a minute-and-a-half into the second period. The Hawks extended the margin with a pair of goals and took a 4-1 lead into the half. \nIU came out of the break with vengeance, scoring four consecutive goals and taking its first lead of the match, 5-4. Peterson, Waldthaler and sophomores Emily Schmitt and Janis Pardy each recorded one goal a piece during the run.\nUnfortunately, Hartwick proved to be too much for the Hoosiers, as they scored twice in the final period ending IU's run at another conference title. In the loss, the Cream and Crimson failed to convert on three 6-5 advantages, while the Hawks converted three times on the advantage.\nAlthough the Hoosiers did not compete for the conference title, third place was still at stake as they took on No. 20 Brown Sunday afternoon. IU looked impressive throughout the last match of the season, as it cruised to a 9-4 victory over the fourth seeded Bears.\nIn the opening half of play, the Hoosiers traded a pair of goals with Brown before going into the break with a 4-3 lead behind two second-period goals from Pardy.\nIn the second half, IU came out firing, as it found the back of the net three consecutive times in the third period and never looked back, outscoring the Bears 5-1 in a dominating second half of play. \nA trio of players netted a pair of goals in the win for the Hoosiers. Peterson, Scmitt and Pardy each scored twice for IU. Streefkerk, Waldthaler and senior Melissa Pietras also netted one goal a piece in the victory. \nPeterson was honored as a First Team CWPA Eastern Championship All-Tournament selection, as she scored five goals in the three Eastern Championship matches for the Hoosiers. Fellow classmate Waldthaler was also honored as a Second Team choice. Waldthaler had four goals in the Hoosiers' opening round win over Bucknell and netted a score in each of the last two Championship games.