IU finishes 5th at CWPA Eastern Championship

The No. 3 IU water polo team failed to repeat titles this year at the CWPA Eastern Championship in Providence, R.I. However, the Hoosiers did make history this past weekend as this season’s squad surpassed the 1998, 2003, and 2011 squads with 28 wins, a new IU record.

After a first round loss to tournament Brown, Indiana went on to defeat Harvard in a close 7-5 match headlined by three goals courtesy of sophomore Shae Fournier.

That win landed Indiana in a matchup with No. 5 seed Hartwick. The Hoosiers were able to squeak out a win in an overtime thriller, edging the Hawks 12-10.

“Our joke all year was that we may not play good water polo all the time, but we were really, really good at winning games,” said IU Coach Barry King in an interview with IU Athletics. “Today is a perfect example. Everything about today should have been us laying down and going to the next year, but they found a way to grind and win and that’s just been the character of this team all year.”

Against the Hawks, freshman Colleen McNaught shined, tallying her seventh hat trick of the season. Fellow freshman Summer Creighton, Alexis Jones, and Shelby Taylor each scored two apiece.

Leading 6-5 at halftime, Hartwick captured the second half’s momentum early, firing three straight goals past senior goalkeeper Cassie Wyckoff. Holding a 9-5 lead, the Hawks would allow IU to cut the deficit off two power play goals from McNaught and Taylor.

McNaught and sophomore Meghan Lappan would each score to eventually force overtime, in which IU would pull away. The final score would be 12-10, good enough to earn IU fifth place.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the way they turned it around and got themselves back into the game. That was a full-blown team effort,” King added.