Crimson Drops Two of Three Matchups

In its last out-of-state tournament before the playoffs, Harvard women’s water polo finished 1-2 during its two days of competition at the University of Maryland.

The Crimson (15-12, 2-1 CWPA Southern) had little trouble against George Washington (6-16, 0-4) in its first game of the weekend.

But Harvard’s next two opponents—Indiana (19-11, 3-2) on Saturday and Maryland (16-13, 3-0) yesterday morning—were much tougher opponents. The Crimson kept both games close, but couldn’t pull out a win in either, ending the weekend on a two-game losing streak.

“I think for us, we didn’t change anything, game-plan wise between Indiana and Maryland,” Harvard coach Ted Minnis said. “You don’t have to get the girls to get up for teams like Maryland and Indiana [because] they’re in the top 20 teams in the country.”

MARYLAND 12, HARVARD 10

After taking an early lead and keeping the game competitive through the first half, Harvard allowed five goals in the third quarter and wasn’t able to come back, losing, 12-10.

Freshman Shayna Price led the team with three goals, and sophomores Elise Molnar and Aisha Price each hit two of their own. But in spite of the strong offensive showing from the three, the Terps hung on to clinch the CWPA Southern Division title.

The Crimson held a 6-5 lead going into halftime. At the start of the second half, Maryland capitalized on its opportunities, according to Minnis.

“[We] had a stretch in the third quarter [when] we had a couple of turnovers that led to a couple of goals for them and got us behind by a couple,” Minnis said.

With five goals in the game between them, the Price sisters capped a productive offensive weekend.

“They’re not pressing—they’re letting the game come to them,” Minnis said. “They see their defense is giving them space, and they’re filling that space, and they’re taking the shots they’re supposed to take and putting them away.”

No. 13 INDIANA 14, HARVARD 8

Down by just one at the half, Harvard couldn’t keep up with the Hoosiers in the final two quarters, dropping Saturday’s second game, 14-8.

The Crimson trailed by a score of 6-5 after a four-goal second-half performance. But Harvard only scored three more for the rest of the game, and the nationally-ranked Indiana team scored eight to take the six-goal victory.

“We like playing those tough games,” junior co-captain Devan Kennifer said. “I think if we had played them in the first game of the day, it would have maybe even been a little bit better, because we were relatively tired from the first.”

Kennifer knocked in three goals for her second hat trick of the day. Shayna Price was the Crimson’s only other player to score multiple goals, converting twice to give her four for the day.

“It was really good for us in terms of getting confidence in playing really good teams, because we know at this point that we can hang with pretty much anyone,” Kennifer said.

Indiana’s Nicole Redder led all scoring with four goals, and Jakie Kohli hit three of her own. The three goals gave Kohli six total on Saturday after scoring three earlier in the day against Brown.

HARVARD 15, GEORGE WASHINGTON 11

In the first game of the weekend, the Crimson had little trouble with the Colonials, holding a comfortable lead for most of the game before pulling away in the fourth quarter to take the win.

The Price sisters scored a combined five goals, and Kennifer added a hat trick of her own to continue a streak of dominance over GW. Harvard hasn’t lost to the Colonials since 2004.

“The Price sisters have really awesome shots, and kind of comically similar shots,” Kennifer said. “They’ve got guns, and it’s really awesome when they come out shooting.”

After ending the first quarter in a 2-2 tie, the Crimson took a one-goal lead into the half. Harvard never blew the game open, but GW also never seriously threatened Harvard’s lead after the half.

“They are much better than they have been in the past…so we were ready for a better team,” Kennifer said. “They came out and they were really good…We were pretty dominant the entire game, but the score didn’t quite show it.”

The season so far has been one of the Crimson’s best in the past few years, but the team has had its struggles away from Cambridge. Harvard is 7-0 at home, but it hasn’t had the same success on the road, with an 8-11 record after Saturday’s first game.

—Staff writer E. Benjamin Samuels can be reached at samuels@college.harvard.edu.