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Wild West Comes East: No. 14 Indiana Shocks No. 11 Hartwick 8-7 to Reach Eastern Championship Title Game
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Cassie Wyckoff (So., Los Altos, Calif./Los Altos) made eight saves to earn Player of the Game notice and Nicole Redder (Jr., Grandville, Mich./Jenison) pumped in three goals as No. 14 Indiana University upset No. 11 Hartwick College 8-7 to reach the 2010 Eastern Championship title game at the University of Maryland's Eppley Recreation Center.
The victory snaps a four-year streak by Hartwick in reaching the Eastern title game as the Hawks competed in the 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006 tilts. Ironically, the teams that met the year prior to the Hawks four-year run were Indiana and the University of Michigan, the same two teams which will battle at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 2 for the 2010 Eastern Championship.
This will mark Indiana's third appearance in the Eastern title game after capturing the 2003 crown over Brown University and falling to Michigan in 2005. In addition, it will mark the fourth time the Hoosiers and Wolverines will have met this season as Michigan is 3-0 with 7-6, 6-4 and 5-3 victories, including a win in the Western Division title game last weekend.
Indiana never trailed against Hartwick opening up a 2-0 lead on a natural goal by Redder at 6:47 and a five-meter penalty shot by Lauren Wyckoff (Jr., Los Altos, Calif./Los Altos) with 5:56 left in the first period. Hartwick closed the gap to a single score by the end of the period as Hanneke Alferink (Jr., Nijverdal, Netherlands/University of Groningen) on a counter with 56 seconds left in the opening frame.
The margin contracted and expanded back out to a pair of markers throughout the second period as Kara Butler (Jr., Poway, Calif./Poway) turned her defender and deposited a shot into the cage at 7:31 to make it 3-1. Indiana closed the gap to 3-2 at 5:09 when Lily Martinez (Fr., Commerce, Calif./Montebello) scored on a power-play, but Redder responded with an exclusion score of her own at 4:36 to return the spread to two goals at 4-2.
Hartwick again pulled to within a goal as Kirsten Hudson (Sr., Wellington, New Zealand/Westlake Girls) drilled a shot inside the near post from eight meters out to make it 4-3 with 2:08 left in the period half, but the Hoosiers returned the lead to two with a Kelly Palmberg (Sr., Simi Valley, Calif./Royal) backhander at the 1:19 mark to make it 5-3 at halftime.
The lead ballooned to four goals in the opening minutes of the third period as Hanna Eimstad (So., Portland, Ore./Beaverton) scored on a power-play at 7:48 and Redder completed a hat-trick with a back-handed goal from two-meters at 5:45 for a 7-3 spread.
Needing a comeback bid with enough time to erase the Hoosiers' lead, the Hawks turned to Sasha Freeborn (Fr., Auckland, New Zealand/Westlake Girls) who scored on a power-play at 2:09 to make it 7-4. The deficit continued to dwindle away as Christina Evans (Sr., Cedar Hills, Utah/Lone Peak) grabbed a loose ball and broke away to finish off a counter-attack opportunity at 1:52 to move Hartwick to within 7-5 with a period of competition left to play.
Hudson attemped to single-handidly lead Hartwick back into the game as she weaved through the Indiana defense and deposited a shot into the cage after turning her defender at 3:10 of the fourth period to set the score at 7-6.
Facing a Hartwick comeback and potential overtime, the Hoosiers received what they needed to stave off the Hawks from the hand of Palmberg who zipped a twine-denting man-up score with 1:57 to play to return the lead to a pair of markers at 8-6.
The goal proved to be the game-winner as Jessica McKee (Jr., Tustin, Calif./Laguna Beach) accepted a crossing pass and unleashed a shot to the back of the cage to make it a one goal game at 8-7 with 59 seconds left in regulation.
However, Indiana's defense kept the Hawks at bay for the remainder of the period to hold on and pick up the one-goal victory.
For Hartwick, Hudson led the way with a pair of tallies, while Jessica Dorman (Jr., Auckland, New Zealand/Diocesan) turned in a game-high 10 saves as the Hawks will face Princeton University at 1:00 p.m. in the third place game on Sunday, May 2.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| No. 14 Indiana University | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | -- | 8 |
| No. 11 Hartwick College | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -- | 7 |
Hartwick Goals: Kirsten Hudson (2); Christina Evans; Hanneke Alferink; Sasha Freeborn; Lily Martinez; Jessica McKee
Indiana Goals: Nicole Redder (3); Kelly Palmberg (2); Hanna Eimstad; Kara Butler; Lauren Wyckoff
Saves: Hartwick - Jessica Dorman (10) ; Indiana - Cassie Wyckoff (8)
Exclusions: Hartwick - 10 ; Indiana -14
Advantage Opportunities: Hartwick - 2-for-14 ; Indiana - 4-for-10
Sprints: Hartwick - 0-for-4 ; Indiana - 4-for-4
Nicole Redder scored three times to lead Indiana past Hartwick
