No. 11 Hartwick and Brown Await Women's Water Polo in Season Finale

Pictured: Senior Roxanne Pinto
Photo courtesy of Gil Talbot Photography.

The Particulars:
Harvard welcomes No. 11 Hartwick in the penultimate game of the regular season. The Crimson and Hawks square off at 6:30 p.m. at Blodgett Pool. Harvard wraps up the regular seasons as it takes on Brown on the road.

Last Time Out:
The Harvard women's water polo team picked up its first Northern Division victory of the 2010 season. The Crimson defeated Brown 7-6 in overtime Wednesday night at Blodgett Pool. The win snaps Harvard's 11 match losing streak to the Bears and is the first victory over Brown since 2006. Monica Zdrojewski tallied the game-winning goal with just over a minute remaining in the second overtime period.

About Harvard:
The Crimson heads into the weekend with an 11-10 overall record and a 1-1 mark in the CWPA Northern Divison. Devan Kennifer leads the team with 59 goals. Monica Zdrojewski is second on the squad with 27 tallies while Ita Barton-Kettleborough and Aisha Price have each buried 25 and 24 markers, respectively. Laurel McCarthy has turned aside 135 shots this season as Harvard owns a 9.82 goals-against-average.

About Hartwick:
The Hawks are 22-4 going into the weekend and sit atop the CWPA Northern Division standings with a 2-0 record. Jessica McKee leads Hartwick with 61 goals and 27 assists for 88 points on the year. Christine Evans has tallied 58 goals while Kirsten Hudson has found the back of the net 39 times. As a team, the Hawks have netted 331 goals on the season. Between the pipes, Jess Dorman has seen most of the action, playing 648 minutes on the year. Dorman owns a 9.23 goals-against-average and has made 207 saves on the year.

About Brown:
The Bears enter the match with an 18-12 overall record and a 0-2 mark in the conference. Brown is coming off of a pair of Northern Division losses. The Bears fell to Hartwick 11-6 to open the conference schedule. Brown also bowed to Harvard 7-6 in overtime, April 14. Seniors Sarah Glick and Lauren Presant lead the Brown offense. Presant has tallied a team-high 73 goals on the year while Glick has notched 72 scores.

What Happens If...
Harvard is 11-2 on the year when scoring 10 or more goals in a game. The Crimson is also 9-1 this season when holding opponents to nine or less goals. The Crimson is 3-0 on the season in games decided in overtime, having defeated Wagner 10-8 at the Princeton Invitational, Feb. 20, and Bucknell 13-12 at the Elite Eight Invitational, Feb. 28, and Brown 7-6, April 14.

The Last Meeting:
Harvard fell to No. 11 Hartwick, 15-8, in the first CWPA Northern Division match of the season. Kennifer lead the Crimson with five goals while also drawing five kick outs. Roxanne Pinto, Shannon Purcell and Patricia Smith each netted a goal for Harvard. Sophomore netminder Laurel McCarthy made six saves.

Superb Seniors:
Today's contest marks the final time that Harvard's four seniors will compete at Blodgett Pool. Kristina Bergquist, Kelly Peeler, Kathyrn Bilder and Roxanne Pinto will all be participating in their last home match for the Crimson. As a group, the three have helped Harvard achieve double-digit wins in their four years. The trio has also combined for 100 goals over their careers.

Coming Up:
Harvard closes out the Northern Division slate as it taks on Brown, April 18, at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass.