2017 Collegiate Water Polo Association Championship Schedule & Results
No. 16 Indiana University-vs.-No. 20 Harvard University Scoresheet
No. 16 Indiana University-vs.-No. 20 Harvard University FOSH Boxscore
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — For the first time since the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began sponsoring a women’s water polo championship, the Crimson of No. 20-ranked Harvard University will battle in the semifinals of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship tournament as the Cambridge-based squad stunned host/No. 16 Indiana University, 12-11, in the opening round of the 2017 tournament at IU’s Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.
The Crimson (15-12, 5-4 CWPA) used an eight goal outburst in the third quarter fueled by three strikes from the hand of Kristen Hong (So., Orinda, Calif./Miramonte) in the frame to overcome a 5-2 halftime deficit and shock the Hoosiers (18-10, 5-4 CWPA) in their home pool.
The victory advances Harvard into the tournament semifinals for the first time since placing third in 2000, a year prior to the inaugural NCAA Championship in the sport. In the modern history of the championship, Harvard has taken eighth (2006, 2007, 2010), seventh (2002, 2002, 2009, 2012, 2014), sixth (2003, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016), fifth (2004, 2005) and third (2000) at the Eastern/CWPA Championship tournament. The third place finish in 2000 advanced the Crimson into the National Collegiate Championship, the immediate precursor to today’s NCAA Championship, as the team finished the year with a 20-12 mark and a placement of 15th at the National Championship tournament. It marked the last post-league championship berth for Harvard and marked the third time the Crimson made the field after previously finishing in Eighth Place in 1995 and 1998.
The game will likely go down as having one of the most dramatic shifts in the history of the sport – on either East or West Coast.
Indiana grabbed the early lead as the Hoosiers dominated the first 16 minutes of competition to keep the Crimson on their heels.
Sarah Young (Jr., San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) opened the scoring 53 seconds into the contest as Sarah Myers (Jr., Toronto, Ontario/Humberside) found her with a pass on a man-up opportunity to place the Hoosiers ahead 1-0. Harvard responded at 5:43 when Zoe Osborne (Sr., Okotoks, Alberta/Edison) concussed the cage with an even-strength strike off a helper from Michelle Martinelli (Sr., San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines), but Young factored in the counterpoint by dropping off a pass for a streaking Jennifer Beadle (Jr., Pleasanton, Calif./Foothill) 19 seconds later at 5:24 to hand the Hoosiers a 2-1 lead.
The remainder of the first half belonged to the dark team as Mollie Williams (Fr., Sydney, Australia/Meriden) assisted Kelly Matthews (Jr., Roxboro, Quebec/St. Thomas) and Young on power-play (3:43) and natural (1:26) goals prior to Beadle bashing in the twine with 59 seconds left in the first quarter to provide Indiana a dominating 5-1 lead after eight minutes of action.
Both Indiana and Harvard had a hard-time adding to the lead or shrinking the margin in the second quarter as strong defensive play, combined with a stout effort by the posts of the cage, combined to hold the teams off the board for the majority of the period. The lone tally in the second quarter came with 6:58 left in the first half as Mathilde Ribordy (Fr., Quebec City, Quebec/Les Hydres de Quebec) chipped a goal off the Crimson’s deficit to lock the scoreboard at 5-2 going into halftime.
The game turned quickly and with extreme prejudice in the first four minutes of the third quarter as Harvard ripped off a 5-0 spurt to turn a three-score deficit into a two tally lead.
Hong started the outburst by notching even-strength (7:39) and five-meter penalty shot (7:01) scores to move within 5-4. The five-meter came in an odd fashion as Indiana head coach Ryan Castle called an illegal timeout resulting in a five-meter chance and the loss of a timeout.
Osborne evened the damage at the 6:36 mark by beating Indiana goalie Davis Simmons (Fr., Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island), who was starting in place of injured starter/Canada National Team netminder Jessica Gaudreault (Jr., Ottawa, Ontario/St. Joseph), off an assist from Lana Gorlinski (Fr., Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) to square the teams at five-all.
The tie would last until 65 seconds later at 5:35 when Sofia Carrera-Justiz (Fr., Coral Gables, Fla./Ransom Everglades) dumped in a power-play bid off an assist from Hong to provide Harvard its inaugural lead at 6-5. Ribardy followed at 4:14 by converting on another six-on-five opportunity to build the spread to 7-5.
Williams chopped the Hoosiers’ deficit down to one at 4:03 by flushing a feed by Young, but Sami Strutner (Jr, Red Wood City, Calif./Saint Francis) torqued in a tally off an assist from Osborne (3:33) and Martinelli mowed through the Indiana defense for another even-strength marker at 2:59 to bury Indiana underneath the weight of a 9-6 deficit.
Williams cut the gap back to a pair at 9-7 via a five-meter penalty shot with exactly two minutes remaining in the third quarter, but Hong completed the “buffet of offense” by drilling in a man-up strike at 1:34 after previously putting up even-strength and penalty shot scores earlier in the frame to once again provide the Crimson a three-goal lead at 10-7.
The Hoosiers refused to roll over, however, as Matthew put away a chance with 39 seconds left in the quarter to set the scoreboard at 10-8 going into the dramatic and tumultuous fourth quarter.
Indiana appeared primed to turn the tables on Harvard and take back the lead as Myers wailed in a score at 7:11 to shrink the lead back to one (10-9) for the first time since the 4:03 mark of the third quarter.
Julie Harrison (Fr., Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) answered the bell for Harvard by exploiting a seam in the Hoosiers’ defense for an unassisted goal at 5:12 that would prove critical to the Crimson’s victory hopes as it returned the lead to a pair at 11-9.
Myers factored in the Hoosiers’ next two tallies to complete the comeback as she converted on a power-play opportunity at 4:05 and dropped off a pass to Joelle Nacouzi (Fr., Montreal, Quebec/College Charlemagne) for the equalizing natural goal at 3:35 to balance the scoreboard at 11-all.
Needing a score to regain the lead and stun the host Hoosiers, Hong delivered by pumping in her team’s fifth man-up goal of the contest in converting on a feed from Carrera-Justiz with 2:23 on the clock for what would prove to be the game-winning tally.
Indiana refused to go away as Harvard goalie Cleo Harrington (Jr., Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor) needed to make two of her 10 saves in the final two minutes and a last second shot by the Hoosiers kicked off the top of crossbar at the buzzer to allow the Crimson to escape with a 12-11 victory.
For Harvard, Hong finished with four goals with Ribardy and Osborne also recording multi-score contests. Carrera-Justiz, Strutner, Martinelli and Harrison each accounted for single markers with Player of the Game Harrington turning aside 10 shots to earn the win.
The Hoosiers received pairs of goals from Matthews, Myers, Young, Beadle and Williams. Nacouzi tacked on a solo strike with Simmons taking the loss with six saves.
Indiana, which falls to 1-1 against the Crimson in 2017 after a 7-3 regular season victory on April 15 at Brown University’s Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center in Providence, R.I., will play George Washington University at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 29, with a shot at advancing to the tournament’s Fifth Place game.
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | — | Final |
| No. 20 Harvard University (15-12, 5-4 CWPA) |
1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | — | 12 |
| No. 16 Indiana University (18-10, 5-4 CWPA) | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | — | 11 |
Indiana Goals: Kelly Matthews (2); Sarah Myers (2); Sarah Young (2); Jennifer Beadle (2); Mollie Williams (2); Joelle Nacouzi
Harvard Goals: Kristen Hong (4); Mathilde Ribordy (2): Zoe Osborne (2); Sofia Carrera-Justiz; Sami Strutner; Michelle Martinelli; Julie Harrison
Saves: Indiana – Davis Simmons (6) ; Harvard – Cleo Harrington (10)
Exclusions: Indiana – 9 ; Harvard – 6
Advantage Opportunities: Indiana – 4-for-6 ; Harvard – 5-for-9
Sprints: Indiana – 0-for-4 ; Harvard – 4-for-4
Officials: Josh Kratz, Scott Voltz
Indiana University’s Jennifer Beadle
Harvard University’s Zoe Osborne cocks to shoot over a charging Sarah Young of Indiana University
