Women's Water Polo Continues Solid Play in California

As the March Madness upsets continued over the weekend, so too did an upset happen in the pool. For the first time in the past three years, Harvard’s women’s water polo team defeated a ranked opponent, beating No. 19 California State East Bay (16-7), 15-11, Friday afternoon.

The next day began with a loss to No. 17 Pacific (17-5), but just as the Crimson started the week with a win, it ended with a victory against Cal State Monterey Bay (8-18). The 13-10 win capped a split 3-3 week, giving Harvard an 11-8 record for the year.

“We’re sad to be going home,” sophomore Devan Kennifer said. “We’ve been loving [it in] California.”

The Crimson plans to take lessons from the wins and failures of the past weekend into next week’s match against Marist. Earlier in the season, Harvard fell to the Red Foxes in a close 12-10 battle.

“We are definitely pumped for it,” sophomore Monica Zdrojewski said. “We played Marist earlier this season, and things didn’t go as well as we hoped, so it’s a great opportunity to build from the successes of the week and learn from our losses and victories.”

“We are going to be tanner than them so that’s great,” Zdrojewski added.

HARVARD 13, CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY 10

In the final game of the squad’s West Coast trip, Harvard jumped out to a 5-1 lead early on before Cal State Monterey Bay came back to make it 7-6 by the half. With the score 10-9 in the fourth quarter, the Crimson shot three into the net while holding the Otters to only one goal, securing its third victory of the week.

“They gave us a good game,” Kennifer said. “We played pretty well, and it was a good game to finish on.”

Zdrojewski’s hat trick in the team’s finale was her third of the week, while sophomore Ita Barton-Kettleborough also scored three. Kennifer managed one tally as well, despite the fact that many of the players at Cal State Monterey Bay have already played with and against her.

“They’re from my hometown and taught by the coach who taught me how to play water polo, so it was great to play that team,” Kennifer said.

NO. 17 PACIFIC 11, HARVARD 5

Even with 33 shots on goal, Harvard had a hard time finding the back of the net in Saturday’s opener. The Crimson was scoreless in the first half of the match and down, 5-0, at the break, thanks to solid defense and Pacific goalie Brooke Millar’s quick reactions.

“Their goalie was really good,” Kennifer said. “We put up a lot of shots against them but just couldn’t find the back of the net.”

Down 8-3 going into the fourth quarter, Kennifer completed her third hat trick of the week to pull the Crimson closer. While Harvard grabbed two more goals, the Tigers scored again in the final 16 seconds.

“We thought that on a different day, we probably could have won and beat that team,” said sophomore goalie Laurel McCarthy, who recorded seven saves. “We were having bad luck with our shooting, but I think it’ll be exciting to play them again. I don’t think the score reflected how close the game was, which was a little disappointing.”

HARVARD 15, NO. 19 CAL STATE EAST BAY 9

Just as Tiger Woods will always remember the first hole-in-one he shot, most of the members of Harvard’s squad will always remember the first time they beat a ranked opponent.

“The East Bay game was definitely my favorite,” McCarthy said. “That was the first time since I’ve been on Harvard water polo that we beat a ranked opponent. It’s been a while.”

The Crimson jumped out to an early 3-1 lead before the Pioneers brought it to within one after the first eight minutes of play. Ahead 8-6 at the half and 10-9 at the end of the third quarter, the Harvard athletes could feel that they would need an extra kick in the last quarter.

Kennifer and Zdrojewski each completed a hat trick in the final quarter as the Crimson grabbed five tallies to East Bay’s two, sealing the victory.

Junior Patricia Smith, who started each game this week after freshman Elise Molnar suffered a concussion, tabbed her own hat trick as well, as Harvard ended the Pioneers’ five-game win streak.

“Patty Smith deserves a lot of credit,” McCarthy said. “We’ve had a lot of trouble starting out our first quarters, and she got in there, and two games in a row she scored the first two goals. She took control of the offense, and it was awesome.”

Freshman Aisha Price and sophomore Shannon Purcell each banked two in the net to help the Crimson, while McCarthy stopped four of East Bay’s shots.

“First with them being a ranked opponent, we were viewed as an underdog going into the game,” Zdrojewski said. “For us to be able to step up to that and be able to have control during the duration of the game was a great thing.”

—Staff writer Alex Sopko can be reached at sopko@fas.harvard.edu.