CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – No. 20 Harvard women's water polo won a pair of contests at day two of the Harvard Invitational, taking down Mt. Saint Mary's (4-16, 0-6 CWPA) 13-3 before a 10-7 triumph over RV Cal State East Bay (6-9). The Crimson moves to (14-3, 4-1 CWPA) on the season ahead of its upcoming west coast swing.
 
Game 1: Harvard 13, Mt. Saint Mary's 3
Game three of the day at Blodgett Pool featured a matchup with the Mountaineers for the second time in as many weekends for a CWPA conference contest. Grace Thawley returned for the Crimson, quickly netting a goal in the first minute, before a seven-plus minute scoring drought for Harvard. Mt. Saint Mary's was able to find its first goal against the Crimson this season, and the score was all square at one apiece through one, following a trio of saves from Zoe Banks in net.
 
Thawley took matters into her own hands to begin the second, securing her hat trick just two minutes into the period. Inde Halligan and Erin Kim would cap a 4-0 Harvard run, as the Crimson would never look back once taking the multi-goal lead. Brooke Hourigan and Quinne Pursell added goals before the half, in which Harvard held a 7-2 advantage.
 
Borden Wahl came out firing in the second half, scoring a couple of goals within the first two minutes, before Thawley would make it a 10-2 game with 4:50 left in the third. The Crimson was comfortable with its lead, adding goals from Kim, Hourigan and Ella Prentice as part of a greater 8-0 run to grab a ten-goal victory over the Mountaineers.
  
Harvard Highlights Game 1

• Junior Borden Wahl tallied two goals, three assists and three steals to fill the stat sheet.
• Junior Grace Thawley led the Harvard attack with four goals.
• Sophomore Ella Prentice tabbed a goal, assist, two steals and two DKO's.
• Sophomore Brooke Hourigan and first-year Erin Kim each scored a pair of goals in the victory.

Game 2: Harvard 10, Cal State East Bay 7
The Crimson met Cal State East Bay for the first time since its final game of the shortened 2020 season, looking to repeat a victory over the Pioneers. Harvard found itself down 2-0 early, before Grace Thawley fired home a five-meter shot and Dany Zapata found an equalizer to make it a 2-2 contest after one. Mirroring the first period, the Pioneers tabbed two straight goals to go back ahead, 4-2. The Crimson failed to find its third goal until the final two minutes of the half, when Zapata notched two tallies within forty seconds to bring the game back even. Brooke Hourigan would give Harvard its first lead of the game with under 10 seconds remaining in the half, as the Crimson took a 5-4 lead into the break.
 
Zapata would make it a 4-0 Harvard run with a score to start the second half, before the Pioneers would answer with a pair of goals to tie the game at six with 3:05 remaining in the third. An Ella Prentice tally gave Harvard back its lead, as the game was eventually nodded at seven goals apiece with six minutes remaining in the final quarter. Jaiden Miller came through when needed most again, with a long-range effort to make it an 8-7 Harvard advantage with five minutes to play. The Crimson continued to stymie the Pioneers attack, with Inde Halligan and Brooke Hourigan eventually adding a pair of insurance goals to secure the 10-7 victory for Harvard.
 
Harvard Highlights Game 2

• First-year Dany Zapata tallied a team-high four goals with three DKOs.
• Junior goalie Zoe Banks made 12 saves in net while allowing seven goals.
• Senior Inde Halligan netted a goal while adding three steals and a block to lead the defensive effort.
• Junior Grace Thawley and sophomore Brooke Hourigan each scored a pair of goals to propel the Crimson.

Game Notes

• Harvard moves to 12-0 this season when scoring double digit goals.
• The three goals conceded to Mt. Saint Mary's was a season low at Blodgett Pool for the Crimson.
• Harvard sweeps its first ever season-series over Mt. Saint Mary's, outscoring the Mountaineers 31-3 in the process.

What's Next? 
Harvard will head to the west coast for the first time this season to compete in the ASU Invitational II, hosted by Arizona State University. The Crimson will matchup with No. 10 Arizona State at 8:00 a.m. MT on Saturday, Mar. 12, before a tilt with Azusa Pacific at 2:30 p.m. MT. The Crimson will return to Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on Sunday, Mar. 13, to take on No. 24 Marist at 9:00 a.m. MT.