Hoosiers Advance to Final, Take Down No. 2 Seed Hartwick
April 30, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Jakie Köhli was simply in the zone on Saturday night, firing in a school-record-tying six goals to propel the No. 3 seed Indiana Hoosiers women's water polo team (24-11) past No. 2 seed/No. 12 nationally ranked Hartwick, 10-9 in the semifinals at the CWPA Eastern Championship. The victory sets up a finals matchup with top-seeded Michigan for the second consecutive season on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.
"I was extremely proud of the effort we showed out there," said Indiana head coach Barry King. "We shot the ball more effectively tonight and Jakie came up big for us."
Köhli has registered the record-tying six goals on two occasions, with the last time coming against Sonoma State on Feb. 7, 2010. Kara Butler notched two goals for the second straight game, while Shae Fournier and Lauren Wyckoff each recorded single scores.
Cassie Wyckoff played a complete game in the cage, making 11 steals and grabbing a steal. Wyckoff now has 308 saves this season, which is the second most by a Hoosier in a single-season. She is just three stops from tying the school record held by Kate Toole (311).
Hartwick scored on the first possession of the game to take an early lead, but (Lauren) Wyckoff came back 33 seconds later with a post-up goal after an assist by Nicole Redder to even things up.
After a Hawks skip-shot to go up 2-1, Indiana battled back with a pair of goals before the end of the period. Köhli scored her first on a lob from deep after a (Lauren) Wyckoff assist, followed by a Butler post-up conversion to make it a 3-2 IU lead heading into the second period.
For the second straight quarter, Hartwick found the back of the cage on its first possession to even things up.
Köhli quickly countered to regain the lead, finding the upper-left corner for her second goal. The Hawks converted another six-on-five chance at the 4:31 mark to knot it up 4-4 at the break.
One minute into the second half, Köhli struck again, this time on a long lob as the shot clock expired to give the Hoosiers a 5-4 lead.
Following another Hartwick power play goal, the Hoosiers established momentum with a pair of goals from Köhli and Butler in the final three minutes of the third period to go up 7-5 going into the final stanza.
Köhli, a 2010 Honorable Mention All-American, continued at her torrid pace as she looked off the defense and connected from near seven meters to give Indiana the 8-5 advantage just 29 seconds into the quarter. The Hoosiers kept applying the pressure offensively as Fournier scored on a short lob to put the Hoosiers in front by four goals.
Hartwick came back 10 seconds later with a goal from deep to briefly pull within three, until Köhli found the net for the sixth time to make it a 10-6 Indiana lead.
The Hawks put together an impressive sequence during the middle of the quarter, scoring three straight goals to suddenly pull within one with 4:28 to play.