Bears Chase Rival Crimson Out of the Pool

The first four minutes told the whole story of the Harvard (7-10) women’s water polo match last night against Brown (19-8). By the time the first quarter was halfway over, the Crimson had dug itself into a 5-0 rut against the number 19th-ranked Bears, and would go on to lose 11-3.

Brown’s early goals were the result of relentless defense that forced turnovers on nearly every Harvard possession. With barely any offensive opportunities in the first eight minutes of action the Crimson struggled to keep pace with the speedy Bears.

On Harvard’s first two possessions Brown stole the ball and scored on quick counter attacks. Getting down so early caused frustration for the Crimson players who responded by fouling the Bears on their next two offensive opportunities.

These mental mistakes proved to be costly as Brown took advantage of the man up situations and scored both times. After four Bears possessions Harvard was trailing 4-0.

The Crimson eventually got on the board when freshmen Kathryn Bilder placed an outside shot into the bottom corner of the cage with just under three minutes to play in the first quarter. Harvard then went on to hold Brown scoreless for the next 12 minutes, a span that included the entire second quarter.

The effort was "too little too late," though, and in the third quarter the Crimson collapsed again, giving up two quick goals to open the frame.

Harvard got a goal from senior Caitlin Fahey, a Brown player who deflected a Bilder shot passed her own goalie. As the Crimson fans shouted, “You let your whole team down.”

Fahey made up for her mistake by taking the ball the length of the pool and passed three Harvard defenders before scoring again—this time for the Bears.

“I have nothing to say,” said head coach Erik Farrar. “What I have to say about [the game] I have to say to my team.”

The Crimson got its final goal from sophomore Devon MacLaughlin as time was winding down. Before blasting the ball into the right corner with 3:14 to play, MacLaughlin had been struggling to get her shots on goal.

MacLaughlin’s attempts, like the rest of her teammates', were continuously missing high or wide. As a team Harvard converted just 3 of 26 of its shots. By contrast Brown scored on 11 of 21 of its shots.

Another major factor in the Crimson’s lackluster offense was its inability to convert on 6-on-5 situations. On man-up advantages, usually a great scoring opportunity, Harvard was an abysmal 1 for 9.

With the win, the Bears have swept the three-game season series against the Crimson. Brown had previously won 11-4 in Providence on February 11 and 8-3 at Blodgett Pool on March 14.

“Tomorrow is another day,” Farrar said.

But tomorrow, the Crimson will have little time to wonder what went wrong as they prepare to face conference opponents Queens and Utica in New York.

—Staff writer Julia R. Senior can be reached at jrsenior@fas.harvard.edu.