No. 13 Indiana women’s water polo traveled to San Diego, California to compete in the USCD Triton Invitational this weekend. The invitational consisted of a round robin bracket in which Indiana was set to compete four times in three days.
Indiana finished 2-2 on the weekend after beating No. 16 University of California, Santa Barbara and No. 18 University of California, San Diego. The Hoosiers’ two losses came to No. 2 University of Southern California and No. 7 Long Beach State University.
Indiana’s first competition of the weekend was against UCSB on Friday morning. The Hoosiers had previously beaten the Gauchos 12-10 on Jan. 21. UCSB held a 2-1 lead in the first period with goals from UCSB’s sophomore utility Cami Mras and sophomore attacker Juju Amaral.
The Hoosiers scored 3 goals in the second quarter, putting them ahead of the Gauchos 4-3 at halftime. Indiana’s final score of the first half came from graduate goalie Mary Askew with one second left on the clock. The two teams evenly exchanged points in the second half until the teams were tied 6-6 late in the fourth quarter. With two minutes left in the game, sophomore attacker Sophia Sollie secured the winning goal to grant Indiana the 7-6 win.
Indiana’s next matchup was against No. 2 USC. Indiana faced a 1-goal deficit in the first period as USC led 4-3. In the second period, the Trojans scored three consecutive goals and the Hoosiers responded with 2 goals of their own to level the score 6-5 before halftime.
Indiana lost control of the game in the third quarter. The Trojans went on a 7-0 run and cruised to a 16-7 win over the Hoosiers.
Indiana returned to the pool later that evening to face No. 7 LBSU. The Hoosiers put the first 2 points on the board with goals from Sollie and senior utility Zoe Crouch. While Indiana only trailed 7-6 at the break, the game was defined by the fourth quarter.
In the final 13 minutes of play, LBSU scored 8 unanswered points. The Hoosiers lost the match up 15-8 and would play for seventh place the following day.
Indiana was able to win its final game 6-5 against No. 18 UCSD and earn seventh place in the invitational. Indiana displayed teamwork against UCSD with five out of six of its goals coming off assists.
Indiana will return to action Feb. 18-19 at the Indiana Classic in Bloomington.
