Indiana Water Polo: Hoosiers Head West for Triton Invitational

Indiana returns 10 letterwinners from their 2015 campaign, including All-CWPA selections Kelly Matthews and Candyce Schroeder.

Back from Bruno
The Hoosiers earned their first three wins of the season at the Bruno Classic hosted by Brown University. Indiana swept the first day of competition with wins over #16 Wagner and Brown. Kelly Matthews set career marks with back-to-back five-goal games.

Indiana split their second day’s slate, falling in overtime to #21 Harvard and finishing with a come-from-behind win over #20 Marist. Five Hoosiers notched multiple goal performances, including Karrie Kozokar with her first career hat trick.

Tournament Overview
The Hoosiers are guaranteed to face four high-quality opponents this weekend at UC San Diego. The 16-team field boasts 14 nationally-ranked programs, including five of the top 10. It also contains six of Indiana’s scheduled opponents for this season: #5 Arizona State,  #18 San Diego State, #19 UC San Diego,  #21 Marist, #25 CSU-East Bay, and Sonoma State.

Testing the Tritons
The Hoosiers begin the weekend with an even matchup against the tournament hosts, #19 UC San Diego. Indiana will look to make it three straight after winning their meetings at the 2014 NCAA Tournament and last year’s Aztec Invitational at San Diego State. The Tritons are off to a 3-2 start, but have dropped their last two games.

Hoosier Homecoming
Indiana sophomore attacker Sarah Young will have the opportunity to play in front of her friends and family this weekend. The San Diego native played water polo for four years at nearby La Jolla high school.

Of Note…

• 2015 CWPA Rookie of the Year Kelly Matthews is back for her sophomore season with the Hoosiers. She’s off to a high-scoring start with a team-leading 21 goals (T-7th nationally)

• Senior goalkeeper Mary Campbell is amidst her second season starting in the cage for Indiana. She recently climbed to sixth on Indiana’s all-time saves list (447), and ranks seventh nationally with 42 saves this season.

• Center Candyce Schroeder is IU’s top returning scorer in 2016. The senior has 117 career goals and 57 career assists to her name, and she’ll look to cause problems for opposing defenses this season.

• The Hoosiers roll out three newcomers for the 2016 season: center Kaybree Albright, attacker Kate Pipkin, and attacker Mackenzie Rosenthal. Albright and Pipkin are on a roll in the early goings, combining for seven goals and 16 assists through six games.