Women's Water Polo Caps off Season by Taking Seventh Place

The Harvard women’s water polo team finished its season Sunday after clinching seventh place in the College Water Polo Association’s Eastern Division.

Seeded seventh, the Crimson held its seed over the three-day tournament by splitting its games, 2-2, and bookended the weekend with significant wins.

“We were hoping to improve on our seed, but we played well this season,” Harvard coach Ted Minnis said.

Minnis said the brightest spots of the weekend were when Harvard was keeping pace with its ranked opponents, No. 11 Indiana and No. 12 Princeton before eventually falling.

“It just shows that we’re right there banging down the door of top-twenty teams,” Minnis said.

HARVARD 11, BUCKNELL 3

The Crimson finished its season on a positive note Sunday afternoon in a decisive win over the Bison.

“Beating Bucknell was special because it was the last time that our team will play together,” Minnis said. “It was special that they got to go out with a win.”

For the fourth time this season, the Crimson cruised to a victory over the Bison, despite coming off two rough losses against Indiana and Princeton.

Six Harvard players contributed goals in the win, including all four of the Crimson seniors.

Co-captain Shannon Purcell and junior attacker Aisha Price scored three goals apiece.

By halftime, Harvard held a 6-2 lead, which it extended in the second frame thanks to a 5-1 run.

INDIANA 7, HARVARD 5

After falling behind, 5-1, against Indiana in the first quarter of Saturday’s game, the Crimson finally hit its stride with two minutes left in the first half.

“We came back…and played well from then on out,” Minnis said. “We had opportunities to beat Indiana, but we just got unlucky and didn’t convert when we needed to.”

The team mounted a comeback with two back-to-back goals from senior attacker Monica Zdrojewski and freshman attacker Victoria Frager before halftime, but it was too late.

Harvard never took a lead and was unable to close the gap in the second half.

The Hoosiers’ defense, anchored by goalie Cassie Wyckoff, who had eight saves in the game, proved to be a challenge for the Crimson.

Indiana’s defense relaxed in the second half, allowing Harvard the opportunity to sneak within one goal of its competition in the last seven minutes of the game.

PRINCETON 9, HARVARD 6

In Friday afternoon’s quarterfinals, the Crimson fell to the Tigers, who were coming off a first-round bye.

As has been the case for Harvard in many losses this season, the game was decided in the third quarter, in which Princeton went on a dominant 4-1 run.

“Princeton has five girls coming off the bench who are very solid,” Minnis said. “They’re good at wearing people down.”

The Crimson managed to hold the tournament’s eventual champions to a 3-3 tie at the half, but a charge led by Tiger sophomore utility Katie Rigler, who had a game-high of four goals, was too much for Harvard.

Zdrojewski and Kennifer each contributed two goals in the match to keep the Crimson within reach of their top-twenty opponent.

HARVARD 14, MERCYHURST 4

For the third time this season, the Crimson routed the Lakers on Friday morning in a first-round victory.

Harvard built up a 6-2 lead by the end first quarter and added to that with four unanswered goals before halftime. After taking an eight-goal lead, the Crimson rested a number of its starters in the second frame. Harvard finished with a 10-goal lead, its fifth largest of the season.

Zdrojewski finished with a hat trick in the game, the start of a strong weekend for the attacker in her final games in a Crimson uniform.

“We have four seniors who have done a lot for the team and program,” Minnis said. “This will go down in my mind as one of the best teams of all time.”

—Staff writer Patrick Galvin can be reached at pgalvin@college.harvard.edu.