Women's Water Polo Splits Four Weekend Matchups

In its second weekend of competition, the Harvard women’s water polo team started off with two straight losses, but righted the ship the next day with a pair of victories.

Playing in the Princeton Invitational in New Jersey, the Crimson took on two of the best teams in the nation on Saturday in No. 4 California and No. 10 Princeton. Although unranked Harvard competed with both teams for stretches, the Crimson fell to the Golden Bears, 14-5, and lost to the Tigers by a score of 11-7.

Harvard took on easier competition Sunday and bounced back first against the New York Athletic Club, cruising to a 20-9 victory. The Crimson ended its road trip on a similarly strong note with a 19-4 win against Villanova.

“I thought it was a really good weekend,” Harvard coach Ted Minnis said. “Cal and Princeton are two top-ten teams, and they were both close games in the third, so I thought we did really well. We don’t want to be playing our best water polo in February. We made some mistakes, and we have some things we can go back and work on.”

HARVARD 20, NYAC 9

Facing off against the New York Athletic Club, the Crimson dominated from start to finish and coasted to an 11-goal victory.

The team outscored NYAC in each quarter, and every Harvard player who entered the pool registered at least a point in the contest.

“I think that’s what makes this team so special, is that all ten of [the players] are going to produce this year and do something,” Minnis said. “And I think that’s fun, to watch them go out there and support each other and play hard for each other.”

The Crimson was led by freshman Charlotte Hendrix, who posted a career-high seven goals to spearhead the Harvard offense. Hendrix also contributed on the defensive end with a team-best three steals.

"I think I performed decently,” Hendrix said. “I still think I have things to improve on, but I was just the one to finish the play; it was really all of us working together to get to that point.”

Freshman Yoshi Andersen and sophomore Victoria Frager posted solid offensive numbers with three goals each, and two other players followed with a pair apiece.

The Crimson capped off the weekend with a 19-4 win against Villanova. Harvard took advantage of five goals while up a player to record its largest margin of victory on the season.

PRINCETON 11, HARVARD 7

The Crimson failed to get anything going in the first half against the Tigers, and went into the break trailing, 6-2.

Although the Harvard offense kept pace with Princeton in the second half, with each team scoring five goals, the Crimson could never overcome the early deficit.

Co-captain Aisha Price combined with Andersen to total four goals as well as four steals.

Harvard had trouble breaching the Tigers’ last line of defense, as Princeton goalie Ashleigh Johnson tied her personal saves record with 17. Sophomore goalie Ariel Dukes anchored the Crimson in net with seven saves.

“It’s a team effort, from our freshmen up to our seniors, and everybody played well and played hard,” Minnis said. “That’s something we talk about all the time, is playing as a group and playing as a team. Dukes did a great job in the goal.”

CALIFORNIA 14, HARVARD 5

In its first game of the weekend, the Crimson fell to one of the top teams in the nation in Cal by a nine-goal margin.

The Golden Bears found themselves up three at the half and Harvard would never bridge the gap as Cal extended its lead by outscoring the Crimson by six in the second frame.

The Golden Bears’ offense was in control for the entire contest and outpaced the Crimson in each quarter of play. The 14 goals surrendered were the most Harvard has allowed all season.

Cal was led by Emily Csikos, who played with the Canadian National Team last year. The senior contributed five goals, more than double the total of any other scorer.

Junior Shayna Price led Harvard in scoring with two goals, and three other players racked up one goal apiece.

“I think right now we’re still learning what each other is capable of and what we do offensively and defensively,” Hendrix said. “But I think every single game we’re improving and getting to know each other better. And by the end of the season, or pretty soon, we’re just going to come together and dominate.”

—Staff writer David Steinbach can be reached at dsteinbach@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @bigbach12.