BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Sarah Myers (Jr., Toronto, Ontario/Humberside) scored twice in the second half as part of a 6-2 scoring outburst by the host No. 16-ranked Hoosiers of Indiana University to earn Player of the Game recognition and lead her team to a 9-7 victory over George Washington University at the 2017 CWPA Championship in the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.
The win advances the Hoosiers (19-10, 6-4 CWPA) into a 7:30 p.m. clash this evening with Saint Francis University to determine which team makes it to the Fifth Place game at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 30, against Bucknell University. Indiana downed Saint Francis in their only meeting with the first-year team on April 14 at Brown University’s Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center by a 19-6 final score.
Indiana needed to stage a second half comeback to stymie the Colonials (13-18, 1-9 CWPA) and drop George Washington into a must-win situation against Brown at 6:00 p.m. tonight. The loser of the Brown-GW game finishes Ninth in the nine-team championship field, while the loser advances to meet the fallen from the Indiana-Saint Francis game on April 30 at 9:00 a.m. in the Seventh Place game.
Down 5-3 at halftime, Indiana went to work by rattling the cage with four unanswered goals in the third quarter to claim a 7-5 lead going into the fourth and final quarter of regulation.
Jennifer Beadle (Jr., Pleasanton, Calif./Foothill) ignited the run 2:21 into the third quarter as she lined in an unassisted strike at 5:39 to shrink the Hoosiers’ deficit to one at 5-4. The scoreboard gap disappeared at 2:24 as Sarah Young (Jr., San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) accepted a pass from Emily Powell (Fr., Brisbane, Australia/Brisbane Girls Grammar School) to cash in on a man-up chance to even the damage at five-all.
Myers factored in the final two scores of the third quarter as she assisted Kelly Matthews (Jr., Roxboro, Quebec/St. Thomas) and collected her own unassisted strike with 49 seconds and at the buzzer, respectively, to push Indiana out to a 7-5 lead with eight minutes of action remaining in regulation.
Matthews and Myers repeated the feat in the opening moments of the fourth quarter as the duo deked and deposited natural tallies with 5:55 and 5:04 remaining on the clock to make it 9-5.
George Washington valiantly tried to climb back into the game as Scarlett Hallahan (Jr., San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) twirled in back-to-back markers with 3:58 and 2:41 remaining on the clock to inch the Colonials within 9-7.
However, the Indiana defense stiffened to prevent any further scoring to permit the Hoosiers to escape with a two-goal victory.
The first half was nearly the antithesis of the second half as the Colonials outscored Indiana 5-3 to grab the early lead.
George Washington drew first blood with 4:48 left in the first quarter as Erin McGeoy (Jr., Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) converted on a six-on-five bid off an assist from Jacqueline Bywater (Jr., Riverside, Calif./Riverside Poly) to place the Colonials ahead 1-0.
Indiana pulled even at one-all when Beadle beat GW goalie Katherine Moeller (So., Northford, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall) wth laser courtesy an assist from Matthews at 4:27, but Ally Jochim (Fr., Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach) stowed away a pass from Kira Bruno (Fr., La Jolla, Calif./La Jolla) at 4:11 to once again place GW ahead at 2-1.
The lead enlarged to 3-1 via an unassisted marker by Hallahan at 3:41, but Myers found Young for a response at 3:26 to shave the spread down to 3-2.
Hallahan returned the lead to a pair at 4-2 as she hit Maggie Ball (Jr., Saratoga, Calif./Saint Francis) with a centering pass at 1:14.
The lead swayed from one goal and back up to a pair in the second quarter with opposing even-strength scores as Beadle buried a pass from Williams at 6:12 and McGeoy assisted Hallahan at 4:03 to make it a 5-3 game at the break.
For Indiana, Beadle led the way with a hat-trick, while Matthews, Young and Myers each slammed in pairs of scores. Goalie Davis Simmons (Fr., Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island) earned the victory with six saves as the Hoosiers are working to avoid posting their lowest placement at the CWPA Championship in the history of the program after prior First (2003, 2011, 2014), Second (2005, 2010, 2015, 2016), Third (2002, 2004, 2007, 2013), Fifth (2006, 2009, 2012), Sixth (2001) and Seventh (2008) Place finishes.
Hallahan accounted for the majority of George Washington’s offense in posting four of the Colonials’ seven goals with Ball, Jochim and McGeoy each finding the back of the cage once. Moeller took the loss with nine saves.
GW will aim to down Brown and continue a recent trend of at least Eighth Place finishes as the Colonials previously notched seventh (2003), eighth (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016), ninth (2012) and 10th (2000) place marks in its previous tries for the league title and automatic berth to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Women’s Water Polo Championship.
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | — | Final |
| George Washington University (13-18, 1-9 CWPA) |
4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | — | 7 |
| No. 16 Indiana Unviersity (19-10, 6-4 CWPA) | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | — | 9 |
Indiana Goals: Jennifer Beadle (3); Kelly Matthews (2); Sarah Young (2); Sarah Myers (2)
George Washington Goals: Scarlett Hallahan (4); Maggie Ball; Ally Jochim; Erin McGeoy
Saves: Indiana – Davis Simmons (6) ; George Washington – Katherine Moeller (9)
Exclusions: Indiana – 7 ; George Washington – 4
Advantage Opportunities: Indiana – 1-for-4 ; George Washington – 1-for-7
Sprints: Indiana – 4-for-4 ; George Washington – 0-for-4
Cards: YC – George Washington (Head coach Adam Foley, 1 second left in 3rd Quarter)
Officials: Val Vasilchikov, Josh Kratz
George Washington University’s Maddy Johnson attempts to pass over Indiana University’s Sarah Myers
Indiana University’s Kelly Matthews tries to get around George Washington University’s Ally Jochim
