Women's Water Polo | 4/28/2017 5:00:00 PM

BLOOMINGTON, IN – Player of the Game Zsofia Polak (Dunaujvaros, Hungary / Rudas HS) fired in a game-high five goals as fifteenth-ranked Hartwick defeated #25 Brown 11-6 in the CWPA quarterfinals on Friday afternoon at Indiana University's Councilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, IN.
           
Polak scored back-to-back goals 2:05 apart late in the first quarter to put the Hawks up 3-1 and they would lead by at least two the rest of the contest.
           
With the win, which is the Hawks' fifth in a row, 'Wick improves to 23-9 on the season. In addition, the Hawks advance to Saturday's semifinal against #9 Princeton which begins at 3 p.m.
           
Charlotte Cottle (Blakehurst, Australia / Presbyterian Ladies College) opened the scoring for Hartwick just 42 seconds into the match as she scored on the power-play. It would mark the first of five goals for the Hawks on the man-advantage.
           
After Brown quickly answered to tie the score, the game remained deadlocked for four and a half minutes. A Polak power-play goal at 2:29 of the quarter put Hartwick ahead for good. She added another with 24 seconds left to increase the gap to two, 3-1.
           
Nikolina Mihajlovik Mihajlovic (Mississauga, ONT / Silverthorn Collegiate Inst.) scored off a Katie McKenty (Auckland, New Zealand / Takapuna Grammar School) feed early in the second quarter, but the Bears again responded with a tally to bring the score to 4-2, where it remained for nearly five minutes. Polak scored at the 2:48 mark and Lena Kotanchyan (Moscow, Russia / Elk Island School #368) found the net on a long-range effort 37 seconds later and the Hawks led 6-2.
           
The gap was cut to three at the 1:55 mark with Brown's third tally of the game. Polak, however, scored her fourth of the half with McKenty assisting with 30 ticks to play for a 7-3 'Wick lead at halftime.
           
Consecutive goals from Brown's Shannon Crowley and Allison Woo made it a 7-5 game with 4:48 left in the third quarter. Mihajlovik drew a 5-meter ejection just over a minute later and Polak converted it for her fifth of the day and an 8-5 lead. Kotanchyan scored off a pass from Tori Wilson (Kitchener, ONT / Grand River Collegiate Institute) to increase the Hawks' lead before the Bears countered with three seconds left in the quarter.
           
Hartwick registered all the scoring in the final quarter. Wilson set up Kotanchyan for her third goal of the match for a 10-6 advantage after 38 seconds. L.J. Edwards (Encinitas, CA / Cathedral Catholic HS) had the final goal of the game with 48 seconds remaining. Josette Santos (Huntington Beach, CA / Edison HS) played in goal for the Hawks. She made 12 stops while only surrendering six goals on the day.
           
The stage is now set for a rematch with Princeton in the semifinals. The Tigers edged the Hawks 13-12 at Moyer Pool on April 9. 'Wick is looking for its first victory against Princeton since the 2011 season. The Hawks were beaten by the Tigers in the CWPA semifinals in the 2013, 2014, and 2015 seasons.