Crimson Finishes Eighth at ECACs

The Harvard women’s water polo team faced a daunting logistical task over spring break—nine games in seven days while picking up about 5000 frequent flier miles in between.

The Crimson (14-11) started out strong, sweeping Marist and Siena last Saturday in Providence, R.I., before drubbing Utica that evening.

Harvard was back in action two days later splitting a double-header in California with a loss to No. 13 UC Davis and a win over Redlands. The Crimson fell to 1-2 on the West Coast trip following a 6-5 loss to No. 20 Cal Baptist on Wednesday.

Three days later, Harvard was back where it had started—in Providence, R.I. for the ECAC Championships. After an opening round loss to George Washington in overtime, the Crimson dropped its next two contests—all three losses coming by only a combined four goals—and finished in eighth place.

“[Playing this schedule] was not only psychologically but also physically challenging,” said junior two-meter Teresa Codini. “We didn’t have any energy left, and we lost to teams we shouldn’t have lost to.”

Despite the disappointing finish, Teresa Codini was named to the ECAC All-Tournament Second Team.

BUCKNELL 4, HARVARD 2

For the third time this season, Bucknell (12-15) and Harvard found themselves locked in a tight battle—this time in the seventh-place game of the ECAC Championships.

The Crimson mustered just two first half goals with senior two-meter Liz Anderson scoring a four-meter and sophomore driver Sarah Kennifer tipping a ball home during a 6-on-5 advantage.

The Bison answered with two first half goals of their own, but the 2-2 halftime score was well off the scoring pace of these teams’ two earlier matchups this season.

Both defenses clamped down even further in the third, as the period passed by scoreless. Bucknell broke the scoring drought in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead and then added another goal late in the quarter to ice the game.

“We had a couple shots that were arguably close and might have even gone in,” said sophomore two-meter Molly Mehaffey. “We were also trying to run offenses that we haven’t worked on in practice.”

The two squads split the earlier matchups with the Bison taking the teams’ last meeting at home in overtime 10-9 and the Crimson taking the teams’ first meeting at Princeton, 9-7.

WAGNER 5, HARVARD 4

After dropping its opening contest to George Washington in the ECAC Championships, the fourth-seeded Crimson squared off against eighth-seeded Wagner (11-13) for the right to compete in the fifth-place game.

Harvard took an early 2-0 lead in the match, but the Seahawks stormed back to tie the game at two heading into halftime.

Wagner held a 4-3 lead late in the fourth quarter, but with seven seconds remaining, the Crimson scored to bring the score even at four.

The Seahawks weren’t content to settle for overtime as they immediately called a timeout to draw up a final play. Out of the timeout, the pass found its way into the hands of a Wagner player just outside the cage and she wheeled around and converted on the shot attempt, giving the Seahawks a 5-4 victory.

“They set up a double post, and they put two girls in front of the cage,” Teresa Codini said. “They passed it into one of the girls at the two-meter and she got a good shot off at the buzzer and scored.”

GEORGE WASHINGTON 7, HARVARD 6

Trailing 6-4 with just 50 seconds left, Harvard stunned fifth-seeded George Washington (15-9) by scoring two goals in the waning moments to knot the game at six and force overtime.

But the Crimson could not capitalize on the momentum heading into the first overtime period as neither side mustered anything offensively.

The same result appeared to be inevitable in the second, before the Colonials’ Vanessa Fravel scored with just three seconds left.

Harvard wasn’t finished, as sophomore goaltender Lydia Gardner heaved the ball toward the George Washington goal and Anderson tried to redirect it past the goal line. The Crimson’s desperation effort, however, came up just short.

“We were all in the center of the cage,” Teresa Codini said. “We were trying to redirect the ball, but it hit the post and didn’t go into the net.”

Harvard opened up the match with two quick goals. After George Washington responded to cut the Crimson advantage to one, Harvard put up two more goals to grab a 4-1 lead.

The Colonials’ Elizabeth Davis scored before halftime to cut the Crimson’s lead to two heading into the break.

Harvard’s offense went dormant in the second half, while George Washington chipped further into the Crimson lead with a goal in the third quarter. The Colonials added three more unanswered goals in the fourth quarter—the final one coming with just under a minute remaining in regulation—to grab a two goal lead before Harvard rallied to tie.

CAL BAPTIST 6, HARVARD 5

After pulling to within one on a goal by junior utility Cristina Codini with 1:22 to play, the Crimson got the ball back with a chance to tie the game.

The opportunity faded, however, as a lob shot sailed over the net with 40 seconds left, allowing No. 20 Cal Baptist (19-12) to run out the clock.

“The California teams were tough and I thought we played a great game against Cal Baptist,” Teresa Codini said.

Entering the second quarter tied at two, the Lancers struck first to forge a 3-2 advantage. Harvard quickly tied the game back up, and then Teresa Codini scored with 2:40 left before halftime to give the Crimson its first lead of the game 4-3.

Cal Baptist added a goal in the final 40 seconds of the half to bring the score even at four heading into the break.

Then, the Lancer defense took over, holding Harvard scoreless during the third quarter and a majority of the fourth. Cal Baptist added two goals in that span for a comfortable 6-4 lead. The Crimson threatened with its late goal, but couldn’t pull even to force overtime.

Cristina Codini and sophomore two-meter Arin Keyser tied with four players for the game-high in goals with two.

HARVARD 9, REDLANDS 4

Despite an early challenge, Harvard was able to pull away from the University of Redlands (4-15) in its second match on Monday, en route to a convincing 9-4 road victory.

Harvard went up 3-0 almost immediately, but the Bulldogs got two of those goals back, closing the gap to just one as halftime approached.

The Crimson dominated Redlands from that point forward scoring six of the next seven goals to take a commanding 9-3 lead in the game.

The Bulldogs would add another goal in the waning moments for a 9-4 final.

UC DAVIS 11, HARVARD 4

After No. 13 UC Davis (18-8) struck first with two first quarter tallies, Harvard settled down, matching the Aggies’ two second period goals to trail just 4-2 heading into halftime.

“We played them pretty close in the first half which was pretty exciting,” Mehaffey said. “We were trying to put up a good showing, but it got away from us in the second half due to a couple of their quick counters.”

But UC Davis kept chugging along in the third, finding the back of the net four times to the Crimson’s two to take an 8-4 lead into the final frame.

Then, the Aggie defense clamped down on Harvard, holding the Crimson scoreless in the fourth quarter. UC Davis managed to add three more goals in the fourth to take the match by an 11-4 margin.

“The transition from an indoor pool to an outdoor pool was tough despite the fact that [a lot of us] used to play in outdoor pools,” Mehaffey said. “It’s amazing what a difference six months indoors can make.”

HARVARD 17, UTICA 1

The Crimson took its shots early and often in a 17-1 rout of Utica (0-11) last Saturday evening in Providence R.I.

Lady Pioneers’ goaltender Tracy McConnelee faced 25 shots from Harvard, but only managed to make four saves. The Crimson’s 17 goal performance is tied for the second-best offensive output of the season.

Harvard allowed just one goal—the lowest total in any game this season.

HARVARD 19, SIENA 8

Harvard most dominating all-around performance of the season against Utica followed its most impressive offensive display of the year against Siena (2-7).

The Crimson jumped out of the gate with five first quarter goals and never looked back. Along with its strong offensive performance in the first half came a stifling defensive effort, as Harvard held the Saints to just one goal before the intermission.

The Crimson’s defensive tenacity waned in the second half, as Siena posted four goals in the third period and three more in the fourth.

The relaxed play on defense, however, came after the decision was no longer in doubt, as Harvard coasted comfortably to the 19-8 win.

HARVARD 8, MARIST 2

The closest of the three Saturday matches wasn’t close at all, as Harvard coasted past Marist (6-15) for an 8-2 victory.

While the Crimson juggled its lineup, it still maintained a strong defensive effort, holding Marist to just two goals—tied for the second-best defensive performance of the season in terms of goals allowed.

“It was a good opportunity to let people try out new positions and practice things that we’ve been working on,” Teresa Codini said.

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.