W. Water Polo Sweeps Brown, Yale

The Harvard women’s water polo team added two wins to its current record with victories against Yale and Brown in the Ivy Invitational Saturday.

With an impressive 9-4 win over the Bulldogs in the first game of the day, the Crimson (5-1) qualified to play the Bears later in the evening. Harvard completed the weekend sweep with a 6-3 victory over longtime rival Brown.

The two wins allowed the Crimson to run its home winning streak to four games, spanning into last season, and kept Harvard undefeated in its last four games overall.

HARVARD 6, BROWN 3

The last time Harvard and Brown met was in the title game of the 2004 Northeastern Championships, where the Bears dismantled the Crimson 9-2.

Leading 3-1 heading into the final quarter, Harvard tallied three goals to coast to a 6-3 victory in the final game of the Ivy Invitational.

The Crimson scored once in the third period, while holding Brown scoreless during the frame.

Harvard kicked off the first period against Brown with a goal while holding the Bears scoreless into the second quarter. Despite Brown’s one goal in the second period, the Crimson remained on top by tallying two more first-half goals to take a 3-1 lead into the intermission.

The team’s victory could be credited in large part to their effective two-meter game and strong defensive effort.

Junior two-meter Molly Mehaffey contributed two of the Crimson’s six goals.

“Molly had a great game out of two-meters,” Harvard coach Eric Farrar said. “She scored a couple of key goals and we were able to distance ourselves.”

“To be able to come out and score two goals makes you feel good, especially against a team like Brown,” Mehaffey added.

Harvard was able to hold Brown to only three goals due to another impressive performance by junior goaltender Lydia Gardner. Gardner allowed just three goals and made 12 saves on the game.

“We got a great performance out of Lydia,” Farrar said. “She did magnificently well. If she keeps getting better from here, I’m over the moon about that, but she played great today.”

After going 1-3 against the Bears last season, the Crimson gained plenty of momentum from picking up the first of at least three meetings between the two squads this season.

“It’s always fun to play a team that’s capable of beating you,” Farrar said. “They definitely are. We got the better of it today, and I hope that tradition continues. This is a big win. Beating Brown is always a big deal.”

While Farrar was pleased with the victory and the positive direction of his team’s progress, he notes that “the real business end of the season starts in April.”

HARVARD 9, YALE 4

The Crimson got off to a quick start against the Bulldogs and coasted to 9-4 victory in the first of two matches Saturday at Blodgett Pool.

Harvard scored five unanswered goals in the first period, but failed to record a tally in the second as it grabbed a 5-1 halftime lead. The Crimson scored three consecutive goals in the third period and the Bulldogs tallied another as Harvard expanded its lead to six, 8-2.

Yale found the net twice in the final period, while the Crimson added a final score to give Harvard a five-goal win—its third straight.

Despite Yale competing as a club-level sport, the Crimson refused to take the Bulldogs lightly.

“We came out to play both games,” Mehaffey said. “We weren’t taking Yale as a given. We went into Yale more with the idea that we need to work on certain things whereas with Brown we weren’t working to try those things, we were working to execute those things effectively.”

The freshman class provided a spark as it tallied four of the nine goals on the game, including scores from Melissa Mueller, Lauren Synder, Vivian Liao, and Stefanie Wilson.

“We make up a good deal of the team,” Liao said. “We have a lot of talent to contribute.”

Because a large part of the team consisted of freshman, getting the group to come together took time.

“We were coming together and clicking,” Mehaffey said. “The team in general played some of our best team defense this season.”

Perhaps just as valuable as the victory was the experience some players gained in the water during the game.

“[It] was a chance for those who do not always see a lot of playing time to get in and also to get in with some of the starting rotation” Farrar said.

The Codini sisters, Cristina and Teresa, tallied one goal each adding to their already impressive records.

The Crimson will return to Blodgett Pool on March 6th when it will face Connecticut College at 2 p.m. followed by Brown at 8 p.m.