Women's Water Polo Completes First Half of West Coast Trip

In the first half of its annual trip to California, the Harvard women’s water polo team had no shortage of time in the pool.

The Crimson (13-6) took part in five games in three days against West Coast foes, coming out on top in the first three and dropping the next two.

Entering the trip, Harvard was off to its best start since the 2004 season, and the team had an eight-game winning streak snapped against UC Davis.

“I’m really happy with the way we’re playing right now,” Crimson coach Ted Minnis said. “We’ve overcome some adversity in the stretches of big games. I hope we can keep growing as a group and play consistently for four quarters every time we play.”

UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC 17, HARVARD 9

In its final game before a day off, the Crimson could not keep up with the Pacific Tigers (15-7) and fell by a score of 17-9.

Both teams entered the matchup coming off a loss after a series of wins, but Pacific rode to victory as five different players scored at least one goal.

Harvard found itself within striking distance at the start of the second half, down by a score of 9-5. But the Tigers took control of the game in the third period with three goals from junior Rebecca Wright, putting Pacific up nine entering the final frame.

Senior Elise Molnar, the only Harvard player to score more than one goal, totaled three on the game. Junior goalie Michele Relton contributed 17 saves for the Tigers in net.

UC DAVIS 18, HARVARD 9

The No. 16 Aggies (12-12) rode consistent offensive production to put an end to the Crimson’s eight-game winning streak in Harvard’s fourth game in two days.

Although junior Shayna Price contributed three goals and three assists, freshman Yoshi Andersen was the only other member of the Crimson to find the back of the net more than once.

Harvard had no answer for senior Carmen Eggert, who paced the UC Davis offense with a career-high six goals, along with three assists and three steals.

“I think [UC Davis and Pacific are] great teams,” sophomore goalie Ariel Dukes said. “It’s a learning experience. It’s a different style of play out in California, and we’re really growing from it as a whole.”

The Aggies took advantage of two strong quarters to build a 10-3 lead at halftime.

Although the Crimson did a better job of staying with UC Davis in the second frame, Harvard could never muster the offense to breach the deficit.

HARVARD 16, FRESNO PACIFIC 6

Playing against the Sunbirds (1-17) in earlier action on Monday, the Crimson rode strong performances from co-captain Aisha Price and freshman Charlotte Hendrix all the way to a ten-goal win.

Price led all scoring with five tallies, and Hendrix found the back of the net four times. Although their combined offense would have been enough, five other players scored to give Harvard its most goals in a game for nearly a month.

With the score tied 1-1 early in the first period, the Crimson went on a five-goal run to seize a commanding lead. The margin was still five at intermission, but Harvard doubled its lead over the course of the second half to coast to victory.

The Crimson excelled defensively in all four quarters, racking up 16 steals. Dukes also amassed seven saves for the third game in a row.

HARVARD 11, OCCIDENTAL 7

The Crimson captured its second win in as many games on Sunday in the form of an 11-7 victory over Occidental (6-14).

Sound defense in the first two quarters gave Harvard a 5-1 lead at the halfway mark. The teams would play an even second frame with six goals scored apiece, but the Tigers could never overcome the early Crimson lead.

The Price sisters fueled the Harvard offense in the victory, with both Shayna and Aisha contributing a hat trick.

Eight Crimson players combined to total 12 steals, and seven assists came from seven different swimmers.

“It’s a total team effort out there,” Minnis said. “All ten girls play; all ten girls are out there working hard. If you look at our scoring, it’s not just one person carrying the load. We spread it out pretty well.”

HARVARD 11, SANTA CLARA 10

The Crimson began its trip to the West Coast with a dramatic one-goal victory over Santa Clara (11-11).

With three minutes to go, Harvard found itself two goals up. But a Broncos goal off a penalty cut the lead to one. Santa Clara called timeout after the Crimson failed to convert on the other end.

In the closing seconds of the game, the Broncos had the ball with a chance to tie. But Dukes came up with a clutch save to secure the victory for Harvard.

The contest went back and forth in the first three quarters, with the score tied at eight entering the final period. But Shayna Price quickly scored two straight goals to give the Crimson a temporary cushion that it would not relinquish.

The Crimson benefited from strong performances from Price and Andersen, who both totaled four goals on the game.

“It is a lot of games in not that many days,” Dukes said. “It’s very much supposed to be a conditioning experience because we do have so few people. We’re looking ahead at our season, and we need to take this grueling week and grow from it.”

— Staff writer David Steinbach can be reached at dsteinbach@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @BigBach12.