CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – No. 19 Harvard women's water polo defeated Saint Francis (PA) (9-18, 2-8 CWPA) by a score of 18-8 before dropping its final home contest of the season at the hands of No. 7 Michigan (23-8, 11-0 CWPA) 15-9. The Crimson moves to (20-6, 8-3 CWPA) on the season with one game remaining on the regular season schedule.
Game 1: Harvard 18, Saint Francis 8
After falling behind in both contests yesterday, it was the Crimson who got out on the front foot this time with goals from
Borden Wahl,
Brooke Hourigan and
Annabel Facey to make it 3-0.
Kaity Greenwald would tack on another as Harvard led 4-2 through one period of play. The game would slow down for both teams in the second period, with
Zoe Banks shutting down the Red Flash with ten total saves in the three periods in which she played.
Grace Thawley got on the scoresheet before the half and the Crimson led 6-2 at the break.
Hourigan gave the Crimson breathing space in the second half with a pair of goals within the first two minutes. Facey would net her third and fourth of the contest soon after, and along with a
Quinne Pursell tally, made it an 11-3 game heading into the fourth. The floodgates opened for both teams in the final period, with 12 goals in total in the final eight minutes.
Dany Zapata netted a hat trick within the period while Greenwald added two more and Facey scored her team-high fifth to propel the Crimson to a 10-goal victory.
Harvard Highlights Game 1
- Sophomore Annabel Facey netted a career-high five goals while adding two blocks.
- Senior Quinne Pursell totaled two goals, four assists, three steals and a block.
- First-year Dany Zapata piled in three goals while assisting on three goals.
- Sophomore Brooke Hourigan and first-year Kaity Greenwald each netted a hat trick in the victory.
- Junior goalie Zoe Banks made 10 saves on 13 shots faced.
- Sophomore Annabelle Bisconti tied her career-high three assists to go along with a steal.
Game 2: Michigan 15 Harvard 9
The Crimson had tall orders to complete a perfect 4-0 weekend, as Michigan entered play having not lost a CWPA contest since April of 2018. The Wolverines drew first blood before
Brooke Hourigan converted a five-meter shot to tie the score. Michigan quickly answered before
Evan Tingler fired home a long-range effort to tie it up at two less than four minutes into the contest. The Wolverines would find their stride via a 3-0 run that extended into the second period. Familiar to comebacks this weekend, the Crimson quickly rattled off three goals of its own to tie the score, with credit to
Grace Thawley,
Erin Kim and
Jaiden Miller for the scores. The Wolverines added one before the half and took a 6-5 lead into the break.
Michigan enjoyed another four-goal period in the third after doing the same in the first period, but goals from Hourigan and
Inde Halligan kept the Crimson within striking distance as it headed to the final period facing a 10-7 deficit. An early fourth period goal from Miller cut the lead down to two, with Halligan eventually tallying a goal with 5:55 remaining to make it an 11-9 game. However, the Wolverines were able to tack on the goals it needed to come away with a 15-9 victory at Blodgett Pool and remain undefeated in the CWPA.
Game Notes
- Harvard closes out its home schedule and posts an 8-4 overall record at Blodgett Pool this season, while tabbing a 12-2 record outside of Cambridge.
- Harvard extends its winning streak against Saint Francis to 10 games as it has yet to drop a contest to the Red Flash.
- The Crimson reaches the 20-win plateau for the sixth time in program history and fourth season in the Ted Minnis era.
What's Next?
The Crimson will close out the regular season with a road matchup against Brown on Saturday, April 16th at 1:00 p.m. before preparing for the CWPA Championships on April 22-24, hosted by Bucknell University.
