Crimson Faces CWPA Foes

Different sports have different proportions of out-of-conference play.

Major League Baseball plays 18 inter-league games out of 162. National Football League teams play four out of their 16 games against non-conference opponents.

And 24 games into a 31-game season, the Harvard women’s water polo team has yet to enter the heart of their conference schedule.

After two months of non-conference games, the Crimson will finally enter conference play this weekend with matches against CWPA rivals Princeton, Bucknell, and Michigan.

“We’re all really ready to start playing games that matter in-conference,” junior attacker Monica Zdrojewski said. “We’ve come really far this season, so we are all really fired up to show our improvement.”

Harvard (13-9, 2-0 CWPA) is currently riding a three-game winning streak after a seven-game road trip to California in early March sent it teetering towards .500, a record the Crimson, which started the season 6-0 this year, has not yet experienced.

“We grew tremendously in California and you can see that in how we are playing now,” Harvard coach Ted Minnis said. “The confidence we are playing with really cannot be measured. We are playing faster and smarter. Just taking our time and making good decisions to minimize our mistakes.”

The Crimson plays three games in two days in Lewisburg, Pa. and will be facing some steep competition, kicking the weekend off by facing the Tigers on Saturday morning. Princeton (14-9, 1-0) is currently ranked No. 18 in the country and defeated the Crimson 12-3 in the ECAC Championships in late February.  It is also coming off a narrow two-goal defeat at the hands of the No. 6 Wolverines.

“They are a solid team, with a really up-beat style,” Minnis said. “It’s a rivalry game, and with them beating us earlier in the season, we are excited about the opportunity to get them back.”

The hosting Bison (10-10, 0-1) have had an up-and-down season, going through a coaching transition.

But the Crimson has struggled on the road, going 1-6, and Harvard will certainly not be overlooking Bucknell in favor of the two more high-profile opponents.

“We really don’t know what to expect from them,” Minnis said. “We do know that they are smaller than us and that is definitely something we are going to try and take advantage of.”

The Crimson’s biggest challenge of the weekend will be matching up with conference-leading Michigan (23-4, 4-0) on Sunday morning.

The Wolverines are currently on a 13-game winning streak and haven’t lost to Harvard since 2000.

“They are a very good team,” Minnis said. “They have a ton of speed and they really counter well. They can shoot from anywhere in the pool. I really expect a lot from them. It should be a lot like what we saw in California; luckily, we are more prepared for that this time around.”

Michigan is led by Allison Mantel, who boasts 39 goals and 23 assists on the year. To come out on top, Harvard will need a solid showing from junior co-captain Devan Kennifer, who leads the team with 53 goals and 63 steals on the season.

“Devan is Devan, she’s an All-American, and she’s played that way all year,” Minnis said. “We all know what to expect from her, but Michigan does too. I can guarantee that they are going to be trying to stop her.”

Defense will also be a key factor this weekend. The Crimson is 12-1 when holding opponents below nine goals, and such a strong defensive effort will be necessary to escape Pennsylvania with a winning record. Junior goalie Laurel McCarthy has 122 saves on the season, and freshman Shayna Price was recently named CPWA Defensive Player of the Week.

“Michigan is a really quick counter-attacking team and our experience in California is going to be critical,” Zdrojewski said. “In order to have a shot, we need to shut them down defensively. Hopefully, we can do that.”

With just seven games left on the schedule before the Eastern Championships in Bloomington, Indiana at the end of April, this weekend’s games could prove pivotal in Harvard’s season.

The Crimson has received votes in the CWPA top-20 poll three times this season. In order to progress further in the poll, they will need to leave Pennsylvania with at least two, preferably three, wins.

“This is a big weekend,” Minnis said. “It’s going to require a team effort and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m really excited to see what we can do up there.”