Women's Water Polo Misses Chance for Nationals

The Harvard women's water polo team finished third at Eastern last weekend, just missing an opportunity to go Nationals and bringing an end to surprisingly strong season.

The Crimson won three games out of five at the tournament at Brown university. They were knocked out, 12-6, by a tenacious Mary land squad using an unconventional offense.

The Crimson (12-8) entered the tournament seeded fifth, but victories over Bucknell, Brown and Princeton moved Harvard within sight of a second place finish and a trip to the national tournament. An expected setback to Slippery Rock Pushed the Crimson into a battle for second against the Terrapins.

Harvard was behind, 6-5, going into the fourth quarter when Maryland went to a two hole-set offense. The hole-set, similar to a point guard in basketball, is responsible for controlling the offense. When two hole-sets are used, it is difficult for the defense to stop offensive drivers from cutting to the goal.

"We played very well, but the two hole-set offense was something we had never faced this year and we weren't prepared to play against it," Coach Nancy Nitardy said. "Some of our veterans had seen it before, but the younger players hadn't and that was the difference,"

Harvard defeated host-team Brown in Friday night's action 11-6, with Tri-Captains Liz Brummond, Bridget Lyons and Jennifer Gahan leading a balanced attack. Brummond was tenacious on defense, leading the Crimson with four steals.

Next was 21-2 stomping by Slippery Rock, Saturday morning. "We kind of expected to lose that one, so when they started pulling head in the first half, she [Nitardy] pulled most of the starters to rest us for the rest of the day's games," Brummond said.

Gahan then turned the Princeton game into a scoring exhibition, netting six goals on nine shots to lead the Crimson to a 16-6 victory. Bridget "Rage" Lyons made four goals on four attempts and three assists, while Nitardy rested Brummond due to an aching shoulder.

At this point in the tournament, it was clear that Harvard had to beat Maryland to go to Nationals.

Harvard lead, 3-2, at the end of the first half and was behind only 6-5 at the end of three periods when Maryland went to the two hole-set offense and pulled away. The Terrapins scored five goals in the final frame.

"The veterans had played against this kind of offense before, but the younger players were somewhat confused by it, and it cost us," Brummond said.

"We played incredibly well, but when we get behind by one or two goals, we get down and lose our confidence," Lyons said.

Although knocked from contention for Nationals, the Crimson held on to defeat Bucknell in the final game of the tournament, 12-11. At one point in the game, Harvard held a five goal lead, but managed to beat back a second half Bucknell rally to finish the tournament in third place.

The tournament caps off a strong season for the Crimson, and the captains were satisfied with the result.

"Everyone really came together this weekend, and it was great to finish the season with a win," Brummond said. "Amber Keasey really came through in the goal and played well this weekend."

"We played four games at the top of our game, and you couldn't ask for more," Lyons said. "The season as a whole was really surprising. We lost a lot of starters from last year, but the younger players, especially Jen Gahan Aimee Hendrigan and Suzanne Foley really stepped up and filled some holes."

"We really didn't gel until the last month, but when we did we saw what we could really do," Lyons continued.

Gahan finished the season as the leading scorer for the Crimson, with 66 goals , while Brummond finished second with 64 goals and Lyons third with 40. Gahan also led the team in steals with 49.

Lyons lead the team in assists with 34, followed by Brummond with 31.

"Liz and Bridget will be big holes to fill, and they will really be missed," Nitardy said.