Women's Water Polo Takes Three of Four at Princeton Invite

Although it may have been a rough weekend at Princeton for Harvard men’s basketball, the women’s water polo team fared much better at the Princeton Invitational, finishing up 3-1 over the two-day tournament at DeNunzio Pool.

The Crimson (4-2) lost only to the Tigers (4-0), who were ranked twentieth in the country, while defeating Villanova (4-3), Colorado State (1-8) and Bucknell (2-2) by convincing margins.

Junior attacker Aisha Price led the offensive charge for the weekend with 13 goals, and freshman goalie Arieal Dukes headed the defensive effort with 29 saves across three games.

But with at least four different players scoring goals in each game, the tournament’s highs resulted from the entire team’s collaboration, which Harvard coach Ted Minnis names as the Crimson’s greatest strength at this early stage in the season.

“I think we’re so versatile,” Minnis said. “We’re not just one player or two players. Everyone is a threat at some point. If one person is unable to score, someone else will pick it up.... That’s the best thing about our team right now.“

HARVARD 12, COLORADO STATE 7

After a long weekend of games, Harvard was able to crank out a final win over the Rams by jumping to an early 4-0 lead in the first quarters.

Although Colorado State responded with a 3-1 run in the second frame, the game continued with both teams trading goals, but Harvard never surrendered its lead.

In the middle of the game, the Crimson struggled to maintain the early advantage. But the team never allowed the Rams to break into its two-goal buffer zone.

As the game continued, Harvard pulled away again, outscoring Colorado State 4-3 and 3-1 in the final two quarters to secure another victory.

The Rams were coming off a close loss against Princeton earlier Sunday morning, which may have had a strong effect on the team.

Colorado State only had its first win of the season on Saturday against Bucknell, but its early schedule was marked by several matchups with top-ranked teams, including Michigan and Indiana. While the Rams did not beat any of these teams, they scored several goals in the matchups, which helps Minnis view Harvard’s win over the team as a positive sign.

“We were very resilient in that game,” Minnis said. “They have been playing teams in the top twenty really tough—they only lost to Princeton 7-6 [in the final minute]. They’re a good team, and for us to come out and play that well and do the things we did, it just shows we’re on the right track.”

HARVARD 14, VILLANOVA 3

In the second meeting between the two squads in just over a week, the Crimson once again handily beat the Wildcats.

While the Harvard defense did not manage a first-half shutout this week against the squad, the Crimson still jumped to an 8-1 lead, allowing the team to cruise for the remainder of the game.

“Our energy was a little low in that game,” Minnis said. “We were probably looking ahead a little, after what happened last week.”

Most players earned minutes in the game, but Price led the team with four goals and five steals.

PRINCETON 9, HARVARD 6

In the sole loss of the weekend, Harvard battled it out with the Ivy rival Tigers, who were able to outscore the Crimson by one goal each quarter.

Considering the embarrassing 12-3 defeat Harvard suffered at the hands of Princeton when they played last February, the loss represented a strong improvement by the Crimson from last season.

“They had some good shooters, but I wish we had won,” Dukes said. “Once we start developing more as a team we’ll have the confidence they do. We’re getting there.”

While Harvard made a solid effort against the Tigers, weak passes and miscommunications on offensive ultimately cost the Crimson.

“We made mistakes, and good teams like Princeton know how to capitalize on that,” Minnis said.

HARVARD 14, BUCKNELL 5

The Crimson kicked off the weekend on Saturday morning with its first dominant win of the invitational against Bucknell.

Harvard’s defense showed early promise by not allowing any “natural” Bison goals. Bucknell was only able to score in man-up situations, one of the Crimson’s most noteworthy achievements of the weekend, according to Minnis.

“We can do things like [that] this year that we couldn’t do last year,” Minnis said. “We grew last year, and now we’ve added…new layers. We’re still growing as a team, and I want to add to that and keep going.”

—Staff writer Patrick Galvin can be reached at pgalvin@college.harvard.edu.