CAMBRIDGE, MASS. – No. 19 Harvard women's water polo took down No. 21 Princeton (18-8, 7-3 CWPA) in sudden death overtime before claiming a 7-5 victory over RV Bucknell (9-14, 3-8 CWPA) on senior day. The Crimson moves to (19-5, 7-2 CWPA) on the season following the pair of conference wins as it prepares for another doubleheader at Blodgett Pool tomorrow.
 
Game 1: Harvard 12, Princeton 11 (SD OT)
Meeting exactly one week after the Crimson claimed victory on the road over Princeton, the Tigers came out firing with a pair of goals within the first two minutes to get out to an early lead. Brooke Hourigan supplied the lone goal in the first frame for Harvard, as Princeton claimed a 4-1 advantage early in the second period. The Crimson would settle in defensively in front of Zoe Banks in net, getting quick goals from Grace Thawley and Evan Tingler to cut the lead down to one. Jaiden Miller and Ella Prentice would add goals right before the half, and the Crimson took a 5-4 lead into the break.
 
The Tigers would answer to tie the score on their first possession in the second half, before a beautiful lob shot from Inde Halligan gave the Crimson its lead back. Hourigan and Thawley found the back of the net again to give Harvard an 8-6 lead through three periods of play. Hourigan converted a five-meter penalty, but the offense dried up for the Crimson in the fourth, allowing Princeton to cut it down to a one-goal game in the final minute. With just a couple of seconds left on the clock, the Tigers were able to find the tying-goal with a bar down shot at the buzzer to force overtime at 9-9.
 
The teams traded stops to begin the first overtime frame, with Zoe Banks coming up huge with a pair of saves for the Crimson. Grace Thawley eventually broke through with her third goal of the game, which was answered by the Tigers early in the second overtime period. Brooke Hourigan gave Harvard an 11-10 advantage with just over 90 seconds remaining, but once again the Tigers were able to tie it with a five-meter shot with six seconds left on the clock.
 
Playing in its first sudden death overtime game of the season, the Crimson failed to convert on its first few possessions but was able to keep Princeton off the scoresheet. With less than 20 seconds on the clock, Halligan placed another long-range lob shot perfectly into the corner of the net, giving the Crimson the season-series sweep over Princeton in a CWPA contest for the ages at Blodgett Pool.
 
Harvard Highlights Game 1

• Sophomore Brooke Hourigan netted four goals to lead the Crimson while adding an assist.
• Senior Inde Halligan scored a pair of goals, including the game-winning goal in sudden death overtime.
• Junior Evan Tingler registered three assists to go along with a goal and steal.
• Junior Grace Thawley netted a hat-trick while drawing three exclusions.
• Junior goalie Zoe Banks totaled 11 saves and collected a steal.

Game 2: Harvard 7 Bucknell 5
Following her senior day ceremony before the game, it was Quinne Pursell who got the scoring started in this one with a lob shot tally. The Bison was able to quickly respond, and rattled off three straight goals to end the first period. Both teams went scoreless through the first five minutes of the second period, with both goalies stopping anything in sight. Brooke Hourigan was able to net her fifth goal of the day to bring Harvard back within one, as the Crimson eventually went into halftime facing a 4-2 deficit.
 
The Crimson began its second-half comeback through Grace Thawley, who cleaned up a shot in front with 5:23 left in the third before Erin Kim converted a five-meter shot to tie the score up at four. Borden Wahl gave Harvard back its lead with a breakaway score in the final minute of the frame, a goal that was answered by Bucknell to set the stage for the final period. With the score tied at five, Evan Tingler netted what turned out to be the game-winning goal with just under five mintues remaining on the clock. The Crimson got an insurance tally through Inde Halligan shortly after, but the suffocating Harvard defense proved too much for Bucknell as the Crimson completed its second comeback victory of the day. 

Harvard Highlights Game 2

• Senior Inde Halligan recorded a career-high seven blocks while tallying a goal.
• Junior goalie Zoe Banks made 10 saves in net on 15 shots faced.
• First-year Dany Zapata added a pair of assists.

 
Game Notes

• Harvard picks up back-to-back wins over Princeton to sweep the season series after entering the season having dropped 29 straight to the Tigers.
• The Crimson claimed victory in its first sudden death overtime contest of the season and moves to 2-1 in games that go beyond regulation time.
• Harvard sweeps the season series over Bucknell for the first time since 2015.
• The Crimson saw seven different goal scorers account for its seven goals against Bucknell.

What's Next? 
The Crimson returns tomorrow for another CWPA doubleheader, taking on Saint Francis (PA) at 9:00 a.m. before a tilt with No. 7 Michigan at noon. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN+.