Women's Water Polo Finishes 1-2 on Conference Road Trip

­Coming off back-to-back wins in California, the No. 20 Harvard women’s water polo team traveled to Princeton this weekend for a three-game slate against three separate conference opponents.

Entering the week ranked fourth in the CWPA Poll, the Crimson (17-10, 4-2 CWPA) managed to win its first contest against Notre Dame College but fell to Indiana and Michigan, two of the three teams that separate Harvard from the top of the rankings.

“We played pretty well,” junior attacker Charlotte Hendrix said. “We had a few breakdowns here and there which led to our losses. But I think overall we played two top-20 overall teams, and we now see we’re right there with them.”

MICHIGAN 12, HARVARD 9

Sophomore attacker Michelle Martinelli shined for the Crimson on Sunday, but it was not enough to take down No. 15 Michigan.

The second-year attacker recorded three assists to go along with a hat trick, but four third-quarter goals from the Wolverines (15-11, 6-1) pushed their two-goal lead at halftime to four.

“[Martinelli] had the right mindset,” Hendrix said. “Every shot she took was amazing, and it was very helpful [for the team].”

Junior attacker Yoshi Andersen and sophomores Melissa Balding and Lexi del Toro were all able to score in the first period to keep the Crimson within one headed into the second frame. Low scoring plagued the second quarter, with the teams combining for just three goals, enabling Michigan to enter the halfup by two.

Ejections held Harvard up throughout the game. The Crimson accumulated 21 penalties throughout the game, and the Wolverines capitalized on Harvard’s mistakes.

INDIANA 12, HARVARD 7

Despite only trailing No. 16 Indiana (17-11, 5-1) by one goal heading into the second half, the Crimson offense sputtered out of the locker room. The squad only managed to net three more tallies, while the Hoosiers cruised to victory with seven second-half goals.

Despite the offensive prowess that Indiana demonstrated throughout the contest, co-captain goalkeeper Ariel Dukes played well, notching 12 saves in the game to keep her team within striking distance for most of the day.

“Indiana obviously had great shooters,” Dukes said. “We weren’t able to pull it out.”

After scoring only one goal in the first frame, Harvard registered three in the following period, including one by Hendrix in the final seconds before halftime to send the Crimson into the intermission with momentum. But Harvard would fall short for the 13th consecutive time against the Hoosiers, bringing its three-game wining streak to a halt.

HARVARD 15, NOTRE DAME COLLEGE 1

The Crimson easily took care of business in the first game of its three-game road trip, storming out to an 11-goal lead in the first half to take down Notre Dame College (1-12) by double-digits. Martinelli led Harvard’s offensive explosion, notching a hat trick in the first half to propel her team to eight first-quarter goals.

“Sometimes when you play teams you know aren’t as good as you, you tend to play down to them,” Hendrix said. “We’ve been doing that over the course of the season, but we finally came out and played hard.”

Sophomore defender Zoe Osborne also stepped up for the Crimson, netting two second-quarter tallies.
The Crimson took its foot off the pedal in the second half, netting only three goals. But its defensive effort left the Falcons unable to beat Dukes at all in the second half, allowing the Crimson to glide to a victory.

After starting off the season 13-5, the team has dropped five of its last nine, albeit often to ranked competition. Nonetheless, the team remains confident that it is poised to play well at the CWPA Eastern Championships later this month.

“We’re very excited,” Dukes said. “Now we have time to work on the things that you can work on before…postseason play.”

—Staff writer Kurt T. Bullard can be reached at kurt.bullard@thecrimson.com.