Aquawomen Swamp Brown

The Harvard women's water polo team seems to have a nose for scoring in the double digits. In its first two games, the Crimson scored 10 goals against MIT and 16 against Brown.

Last night at Blodgett Pool, the nationally-ranked Crimson took on Brown again. And Harvard won again, reaching double digits, as it downed the Bruins, 13-2.

Harvard (3-0) fell behind early, as Brown notched an early goal against netminder Amy Sandler. But Stacey Moran, who pumped in seven goals against the Bruins on Friday night, picked up where she left off. The junior tallied only 19 seconds after Brown's first goal.

The goal seemed to snap Harvard out of its doldrums. From then on, the Bruins played tentatively and the Crimson counterattacked with verve. Lani Nelson and Tri-Captain Eileen Pratt scored immediately after Moran to close out the first period and set the stage for a rout.

"In the first quarter we played down to their level," Harvard Coach Chris Hafferty said. "We started to execute more on the offense in the second quarter."

"We kind of slowed things down, but then we definitely picked things up," Pratt said.

That second quarter featured some superb passing on the Crimson's part. Tara Gustilo set up senior Emily Ozer twice and senior Frannie Peale once in the span of two minutes, 35 seconds.

Meanwhile, Sandler was stopping everything that came her way. By the time Moran scored her second goal of the game on a short shot at the first-half buzzer, Harvard had gotten seven straight goals.

In the second half, the Crimson gave up another early goal before going on a 6-0 run. Harvard helped out relief goaltender Kelly McEnaney by getting many of its 22 steals in that second half, led by Gustilo's five takeaways.

Pratt proceeded to complete her hat trick with a pair of nifty goals. Meanwhile, the reserves got some much-needed playing time before their spring break trip to Florida.

Polka Party

"A week in Florida will give us the speed we need to get us through April," said Tri-Captain Lynley Ogilvie.

"It'll give us the chance to settle down and get rid of the kinks," said Pratt.

And with no time to spare. In the month of April, Harvard will play in four major weekend tournaments on the eastern seaboard.

"We're going to be able to move from here," Hafferty said.

If they do improve on what they have shown in their first three games, the aquawomen will be tough to outscore, much less outdefend.