Kohli Scores Four as No. 10 Indiana University Rolls No. 14 UC-San Diego 11-8 to Reach NCAA Fifth Place Game

Kelsey Campbell

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Leading 7-6 entering the fourth period, No. 10 Indiana University needed a pair of goals by Jakie Kohli (Jr., Burnaby, B.C., Canada/Moscrop Secondary) in the final moments and some standout defense by the Hoosiers' back-line to stop No. 14 University of California-San Diego 11-8 in the consolation bracket of the 2011 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Women's Water Polo Championship at the University of Michigan's Canham Natatorium.

The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Champion, Indiana (26-12) outscored the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) champion Tritons (17-20) 8-4 in the second half, with 4-2 advantages in both the third and fourth periods, to overcome a 4-3 halftime deficit and pick up the program's inaugural victory in two trips to the NCAA Championship.

The Tritons put the first marker of the contest on the board with 6:12 remaining in the period as Sarah Lizotte accepted a centering pass from Hanalei Crowell on man-up chance and buried the feed into the right side of the cage for a quick 1-0 lead.

Kirsten Bates added to the margin nearly two minutes later with another advantage score as Felicia Orozco lobbed a crossing-pass across the goal mouth from two-meters out which Bates collected and finished in one motion at 4:14 to make it 2-0 in favor of the Tritons.

The Hoosiers' best chance to score in the opening period came between 3:08 and 2:00 as Indiana controlled the ball for the length of the time period.  With 2:41 on the clock, Shae Fournier (Fr., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada/Grant Park) rifled a shot from just inside mid-tank which deflected off the crossbar and back to a waiting Fournier who collected the ball to reset the Hoosiers' offense.  Lauren Wyckoff (Sr., Los Altos, Calif/Los Altos) unleashed a shot which went off the hand of UC-San Diego goalie Allie Taylor and out of bounds at 2:24 to keep the ball in the Hoosiers' hands, but another shot sailed over the cage to give the Tritons back the bladder.

Neithter team was able to manage much more offense for the remainder of the first eight minutes of play as the Tritons repeatedly snuffed Indiana's scoring hopes for the final two minutes as the Hoosiers' put two shots on goal, and one more off the iron itself, in the period.

Wyckoff put the Hoosiers on the board at 6:03 of the second period by zipping in a man-up shot, but Lizotte responded at 5:07 by collecting a pass inside two meters.  Indiana netminder Cassie Wyckoff (Jr., Los Altos, Calif./Los Altos) came out of the cage to contest possession, slapping the ball under the water, but Lizotte grabbed the ball when it bobbed back up and floated a lob shot from point-blank range over the head of Cassie Wyckoff to tack on the Tritons' third score of the afternoon.

The Hoosiers caught a break with three minutes remaining in the first half as the Tritons' Katherine Biehle was whistled for a foul to give Indiana a man-up chance. It took the Crimson & White just seven seconds to cash in on the chance as Kohli found Nicole Redder (Sr., Grandville, Mich./Jenison) with 2:54 on the left-wing for a quick shot inside the near post to make it a 3-2 game.

Another UC-San Diego miscue led to the equalizer as Taylor and two defenders dog-piled on Fournier during a fast-break at 2:29.  For the aqua-mugging, Taylor drew a penalty and Lauren Wyckoff converted on the five-meter free-throw for a goal to make it 3-3.

However, the Tritons stuck the Hoosiers with their trident at the 1:43 mark as Bates grabbed a free ball on an advantage chance, cocked and fired home a man-up shot with two seconds left on the man-up opportunity to give UC-San Diego a 4-3 lead.

The Hoosiers had a chance to knot the game prior to halftime, but a desperation heave by Hanna Eimstad (Jr., Portland, Ore./Beaverton) deflected off the hand of Taylor and then off the right post to settle three-meters back in the field of play.  UC-San Diego collected the loose ball and was able to run out the clock to carry their one-goal lead and momentum into the break.

UC-San Diego's momentum lasted for all of 22 seconds to start the second half as the Hoosiers' claimed their third sprint and cashed in on the possession as Kohli lobbed a shot from the right wing into the back of the cage at 7:38 to tie the score at 4-4.

Indiana went in front 24 seconds later when Meghan Lappan (Fr., North Vancouver, B.C., Canada/St. Thomas Aquinas Regional) followed Kohli's example with a lob shot over the heads of Orozco, Natalie Peng and Taylor and inside the left post to give the Hoosiers a 5-4 lead.

Down for the first time in the contest, the Tritons responded to the pressure with back-to-back tallies by Bates (6:44) and Jessica Tran (6:00) to retake the lead at 6-5.

Needing a comeback to terminate UC-San Diego's sudden scoring scourge, Kohli stopped the Tritons' momentum by unleashing a line drive shot from seven meters out at the center position on a man-up chance to retie the game at 6-to-6 with 4:54 remaining in the third period.

The Hoosiers hot-streak continued as Fournier skipped a shot into the back of the cage at 3:24 to make it 7-6 in favor of the Hoosiers.

Neither team was able to find the netting again for the remainder of the period as the two programs entered the climatic fourth period with Indiana clinging to a narrow one-goal lead.

The lead evaporated 57 seconds into the fourth period as Orozco broke free and popped in a power-play tally to balance the scoreboard at 7-to-7.

UC-San Diego went back in front 45 seconds later as Peng punched in a point-blank shot at 6:18 to make it 8-7 in favor of the Tritons.

However, Indiana refused to die as Kohli collected a long-outlet pass from Cassie Wyckoff  turned up tank, separated from her defender and uncorked a frozen-rope into the upper right corner of the cage from seven-meters out with 4:37 glowing down from the scoreboard for the equalizer.

Kelsey Campbell (Sr., Maple Ridge, B.C., Canada/Maple Ridge Secondary) added to the Hoosiers' resurrection as she grabbed a pass at two-meters and side-armed a shot inside the right post at 4:04 before Taylor could respond to the scoring threat to hand the Hoosiers a 9-8 lead and the eventual game-winning score.

Kohli then took over the game keying the Hoosiers' defense and putting the nail in UC-San Diego's coffin at 1:15 by corralling a ball 15 meters out and swimming in one-on-one with Taylor for an elementary lob shot over the sprawling Tritons' goalie for her fourth goal of the game.

Nicole Redder (Sr., Grandville, Mich./Jenison) finished off the Tritons with 29 seconds to go in the game by slipping through the scattered UC-San Diego defense for another strike to make it 11-8 and advance the Hoosiers to a fifth place meeting at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 15 against the victor of another consolation bracket between No. 20 Iona College and No. 7 University of California-Irvine.   UC-San Diego will face the victim in the UC-Irvine and Iona game at noon in the seventh place contest.

In cage, Cassie Wyckoff finished with 12 saves, including five in the second half, while Taylor suffered the loss for the Tritons with nine stops.

Indiana will have a chance to make history tomorrow and record the most single-season victories in team history as the 2011 and 2003 (26-11) squads are tied at 26 since the team became a varsity program. 

The game marked the second meeting of the year between the two programs as the Hoosiers handled the Tritons 9-4 on March 13 in the final game of the San Diego State University Aztec Invitational.  In addition, the May meeting echoed the March date as Fournier tallied four goals in that game to key the Hoosiers' to victory two months ago, a role taken over by Kohli in the NCAA tournament.

Indiana moves to 4-6 all-time against UC-San Diego as the Hoosiers fell in 1999 (5-3 L, 2/13/99), 2002 (9-5 L, 2/9/02), 2003 (9-4 L, 3/14/03), 2006 (9-3 L, 2/12/06) and 2008 (11-8 L, 2/9/08) at the Tritons' home tank and 2006 (10-9 L, 2/5/06) at a neutral site.  The Cream & Crimon's victories over the Blue & Gold came at three neutral sites (9-6 W, 1/24/04 / 9-4 W, 3/13/11 / 11-8 W, 5/14/11) and at UC-San Diego (8-1 W, 2/8/04) due to never facing the Tritons in Bloomington.

In NCAA play, the Hoosiers are now 1-3 as the team fell to the University of California-Los Angeles 8-5 yesterday in the quarterfinals after going 0-2 (13-2 L vs. Stanford University, 5-2 L vs. Loyola Marymount University in La Jolla, Calif.) in the 2003 NCAA Tournament.

Indiana Goals: Jakie Kohli (4); Lauren Wyckoff (2); Nicole Redder (2); Kelsey Campbell; Shae Fournier; Meghan Lappan

UCSD Goals: Kirsten Bates (3); Sarah Lizotte (2); Jessica Tran; Natalie Peng; Felicia Orozco

Saves: Indiana - Cassie Wyckoff (12) ; UCSD- Allie Taylor (9)

Exclusions: Indiana - 8 ; UCSD - 9

Advantage Opportunities:  Indiana - 4-for-9 ; UCSD - 4-for-8

Sprints: Indiana - 4-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th) ; UCSD - 0-for-4

Cards: None

Officials: Joe Peila, Danielle Dabbaghian