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No. 19 Brown Stuns No. 16 Indiana 8-7 in Eastern Championship First Round
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Bethany Kwoka (Fr., San Mateo, Calif./San Mateo) netted a hat-trick and Sarah Glick (Jr., Bonita, Calif./Bonita Vista) tacked on a pair of markers to lead the offense, while netminder Stephanie Laing (Jr., Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) turned away 13 shots, including six in the fourth period, as the No. 19 ranked Brown University Bears (22-13) stunned No. 16 Indiana University (19-16) 8-7 in the opening round of the 2009 Eastern Championship at Harvard University's Blodgett Natatorium.
The win puts the fifth seed Bears into a semifinal matchup against No. 14 ranked and top seed Hartwick College at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 25, while the Hoosiers will meet host and No. 8 seed Harvard University at 1:00 p.m. with a chance at the fifth place game at stake.
In a game of runs, five ties and a near fourth period comeback to rival the best in the history of the league championship, Brown and head coach Felix Mercado found a way to hold off Indiana and advance to the semifinals.
The win had a historic payback element to it as Indiana University defeated Brown 7-5 in the 2003 Eastern Championship title game at Harvard. In addition, the Hoosiers dropped the Bears 9-8 in the only regular season meeting between the CWPA Western Division and Northern Division runner-ups.
Leading 6-5 entering the fourth period, the Bears appeared to seal the win with a two-goal outburst iby Kwoka n the first 1:46 of the last eight minutes of play. She rattled the cage at 7:11 with a rocket past Indiana netminder Katie Carson (Jr., Modesto, Calif./Johansen) before completing a natural hat-trick at the 6:14 mark to give the Bears' an apparently safe 8-5 lead.
The advantage disappeared nearly as fast as it was gained as Jakie Kohli (Fr., Burnaby, British Columbia/Moscrop Secondary) broke through the Brown defense for a marker at 3:55 before Nicole Redder (So., Grandville, Mich./Jenison) whipped a tally past Laing at 3:14 to pull the Hoosiers to within 8-7.
The final 194 seconds of play were dramatic as Laing turned away four shots, and the Bears used some guile to gain an advantage in the last seven seconds.
With one second left on the shot clock and seven ticks remaining on the game clock, Mercado called a timeout. The Bears dumped the ball, moving the clock to under seven in real time (but not on the clock itself) as the clock stopped for the turnover. The Bears defense collapsed around the cage and stiffled the Indiana attack to close out the win and advance into the semifinals.
The game was nip-tuck from the opening whistle as Maggie Hannon (Sr., Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) put the Hoosiers in front with an even-strength score 32 seconds into the opening period. Brown answered 30 seconds later as Lauren Presant (Jr., Poway, Calif./Poway) found a hole in the Indiana defense to knot the game at 1-1.
Brown then went ahead on an exclusion goal by Presant at 3:59, but Indiana countered at 1:31 with a score by Kelly Palmberg (Jr., Simi Valley, Calif./Royal) to even the score at 2-2.
Indiana and the Bears traded goals by their No. 2's as Kwoka and Lauren Wyckoff (So., Los Altos, Calif./Los Altos) registered goals at 4:49 and 1:57, respectively, in the second period to enter halftime tied at 3-3.
Kohli gave the Hoosiers back the lead at 7:27 of the third period, but Brown answered at 6:17 with Glick's first goal. Indiana went back in front at 6:02 with a successful five-meter penalty shot by Wyckoff, but Brown erased the deficit and went in front to stay over the final 5:33. Katherine Stanton (So., Danville, Calif./Monte Vista) retied the game at 5:33 with an even-strength goal and Glick chipped in her second goal of the day to give the Bears the lead for good.
In goal, Carson turned away six shots for Indiana as the Hoosiers were prevented from gaining their 20th win of the season for the second consecutive game after dropping a 9-8 decision to No. 12 University of Michigan in the Western Division title game.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| No. 2 Seed (#16) Indiana University | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| No. 5 Seed (#19) Brown University | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
Indiana Goals: Jakie Kohli (2); Lauren Wyckoff (2);
Maggie Hannon; Nicole Redder; Kelly Palmberg
Brown Goals: Bethany Kwoka (3); Sarah Glick (2); Lauren Presant (2); Kat Stanton
Saves: Indiana - Katie Carson (6) ; Brown - Stephanie Laing (13)
Ejections: Indiana - 6 ; Brown - 11
Sprints: Indiana - Kelsey Campbell (4) ; Brown - None
Below photo: Bethany Kwoka defends against Indiana's
Kelly Palmberg
