No. 10 Indiana water polo played its second straight home game Saturday, facing off against No. 15 San José State University at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington.
San José State opened the scoring three minutes into the game, but senior attacker Skylar Kidd equalized for Indiana less than 10 seconds after. Following Kidd’s second goal two minutes after her first, senior center Sophia Sollie scored to give the Hoosiers a 3-1 lead after one quarter.
Entering the second quarter, the Spartans scored two back-to-back goals to tie the score at 3. With less than two minutes before halftime, junior attacker Grace Klingler regained Indiana’s lead. Sophomore utility player Nancy Baylor-Sefchick added one more before the break to double Indiana’s advantage, leading 5-3 at halftime.
Both teams tightened on defense to start the second half, as neither side scored in the first four minutes. Klingler eventually broke the second-half deadlock after four and a half minutes to increase Indiana’s lead to 3.
Down by 3, San José State ramped up the pressure offensively. Indiana’s defense, which had successfully limited the Spartans’ offense, began to break down. San José State scored two goals to cut Indiana’s lead to 1. Indiana responded with senior utility player Portia Sasser’s goal, although the Spartans quickly replied to make the score 7-6 with one quarter remaining.
Entering the fourth quarter, Indiana had held onto the lead since midway through the first quarter. As the final quarter progressed, however, the lead slowly slipped through its fingers. As Indiana’s offense proved ineffective, San José State scored three straight goals to take a 9-7 lead with less than two minutes remaining.
Down by two, Indiana went full attack mode toward San José State’s defense, clawing a goal back through senior attacker Grace Hathaway. The Hoosiers pushed for a late equalizer, which never came and left them exposed defensively. San José State responded, scoring with eight seconds remaining to ensure Indiana’s defeat, 10-8.
Despite continuing Indiana’s poor conference play, Saturday was much different than previous games. Indiana’s defense proved much sturdier, initially limiting the Spartans to three goals before the offense slowed to a halt halfway through the third quarter.
Indiana’s offense left a lot to be desired, however. The Hoosiers failed to break the 10-goal threshold for the first time since losing to UCLA on March 9, scoring only three goals in the second half. Junior attacker Louisa Downes ended her goal-scoring streak at six straight games.
The Hoosiers have continued to struggle against the cream of the West Coast crop. The only ranked West Coast team they have recently beaten was No. 20 San Diego State University on March 16.
The barrage of West Coast teams does not stop for Indiana, as it travels April 12 to Palo Alto, California, for its final Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference game against No. 1 Stanford University. It could prove to be the Hoosiers’ most daunting challenge yet.
