CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – No. 9 women's water polo returns to action on the east coast as it heads to New Jersey for a pair of conference matchups on Saturday at DeNunzio Pool. 

The Crimson open the CWPA with Mercyhurst at 12:30 p.m. before facing off against rival No. 13 Princeton at 5:00 p.m. Only the game against the Tigers will be streamed on ESPN+

Harvard is coming off a 3-4 trip to California that saw it play six straight ranked opponents in No. 2 USC, No. 9 UC San Diego, No. 14 Michigan, No. 15 Indiana, No. 17 San Jose State, and No. 1 Stanford.
 
WHAT TO KNOW 

• Harvard jumped  to No. 9  in the most recent ACWPC Weekly Poll. 
• Prior to the matchup with Santa Clara, Harvard played ten straight ranked matchups and has played ranked opponents in 13 of its last 14 games. 
• Last weekend, the Crimson opened the weekend with a 14-6 win over No. 17 San Jose State after Ruby Hodge and Dany Zapata combined for 10 points after Zapata netted four goals and added an assist while Hodge found the back of the net once with four helpers. 
• The Crimson scored 12 goals in the first three quarters of action against the Spartans. 
• Orli Cooper made 12 saves including five in the fourth quarter. 
• Ten different Crimson scored in the weekend opener. 
• Harvard fell to No. 1 Stanford on Saturday by a score of 16-5 after the Cardinal jumped out to an early lead. 
• Stanford surged to an 11-1 lead at halftime, netting seven consecutive goals.
• The Crimson responded with four of its five goals in the second half, holding its own against the nation's top team, as Stanford outscored them 5-4 in the latter half.
• Sofia Del Villar led the Crimson's offense, netting the team's first two goals, one in the second quarter and another in the third.
• The Crimson closed the weekend with an 18-2 win over Santa Clara. 
• Three different Crimson recorded hat tricks in the win after Heidi Heffelfinger, Dany Zapata, and Sofia Del Villar combined for half of the offensive output against the Broncos. 
• Orli Cooper made 14 saves between the pipes as Harvard has outscored the Broncos by a combined score of 38-2 in two games dating back to the 20-0 shutout by Zoe Banks in 2023. 
• Harvard is set to close the season series with both Princeton and Mercyhurst this weekend. 
• Harvard beat Mercyhurst 20-2 at the Harvard Invite in early March while the Crimson gutted out a 7-6 win over then No. 13 Princeton in early February 
• Harvard scored four straight goals to help seal the win and hand the Crimson its first win over Princeton since 2022 and their first loss of the season. 
• Orli Cooper was named CWPA Defensive Player of the Week for the fifth time this season after making 12 saves against SJSU, 11 saves against Stanford, and 15 saves against Santa Clara.

NEXT UP
Harvard plays Saint Francis and Bucknell next Saturday in Ann Arbor to close out its regular season CWPA schedule.