W. Water Polo Advances

The Harvard women's water polo team knew what was on the line at the CWPA New England Divisionals Friday night at Wesleyan.

A top three finish meant a much-coveted spot at next weekend's Eastern Championships in Maryland. Anything else meant a frustratingly early end to the Crimson's season.

And with two convincing victories over Boston College and Brown and only one loss to UMass--the number five team in the nation and first in the east--the No. 20 Crimson attained its goal, garnering a number-two seed out of the Northeast for the Eastern Championships.

Against Boston College in the first round Harvard simply dominated. The Crimson scored early and often, overwhelming the weaker Eagles squad and winning by a final of 22-6.

In the semifinal round the Crimson faced off against a strong Brown team. The Crimson had swept both regular season matches against the Bears, but the victories were highly contested. With that in mind, Harvard knew it would have to be at its best, and the team responded with perhaps its strongest effort of the season, winning 13-5.

"I was kind of worried about the team going into Divisionals because our practices have been flat," Harvard Coach Sachi Gahan said. "But the team pleasantly surprised me, going out and whipping BC and playing its best match of the year against Brown."

After the first period in the Brown match, the Crimson held only a slim 2-1 lead. In the second period, however, Harvard took over, shutting Brown out 5-0. The Crimson controlled the match the rest of the way.

Then, in the final match of the tournament, Harvard faced the powerful UMass team. The Minutewomen had easily defeated the Crimson in its previous three matches this season, but the Crimson looked to pull off the seemingly impossible. UMass had other ideas, however, handing Harvard a rough 19-3 loss.

"Umass is just in another stratosphere," sophomore Angela Munoz said. "But playing them is a great way to face good competition before heading to Easterns in Maryland."

Although the weekend ended on a low-note with the loss to UMass, the Crimson's strong play on the weekend put the team in good position heading into the Eastern Championships.

At Easterns the teams are divided into two divisions, with the winners of each playing for the championship. By virtue of finishing 2nd at Divisionals, Harvard avoids facing the powerful Minutewomen in its division, making the road to the final much easier.

"Our division is the easier of the two, since we finished third instead of second," Gahan said. "We don't have to play UMass unless we make it to the finals, and if everything goes to form in our division, we will face teams that we have either beaten or have been very competitive with this year. We like our chances at Easterns."