SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The No. 12 Harvard women's water polo team earned its ninth and tenth consecutive wins in a Sunday sweep at the Aztec Invite today. The Crimson defeated San Jose State in the first game before dropping the No. 19 San Diego State Aztecs in the afternoon game to improve to 21-1 on the season.
The Crimson rolled past No. 18 San Jose State, 13-4, in the opening contest of the Aztec Invite. The Crimson built a lead early with a 4-1 first quarter following goals from
Maya O'Dea,
Lily Britt, and
Sofia Del Villar.
Heidi Heffelfinger added the lone Harvard goal in the second quarter. Three saves from
Orli Cooper in the frame helped the Crimson maintain a three-goal lead.
The Crimson then held the Spartans scoreless in the third and added three goals from three different players. O'Dea added her second of the day while
Emma Gilbert and
Lucy Berkman got on the board.
Harvard finished the contest with five fourth quarter goals to secure its 20
th win of the season. Ten different Harvard players scored in the Crimson's nine-point victory.
The Crimson were back in the pool this afternoon to take on the host No. 19 San Diego State Aztecs. The home team got the upper hand on Harvard early, taking a 4-3 lead after the first period. The Aztecs kept pushing early in the second, using a three-goal run to push its lead to 7-3.
Harvard battled back in the remaining minutes of the half, as
Niki Piovan scored back-to-back goals, followed by a strike from
Ella Schneider. The scoring spurt made the score 7-6 after two periods of play.
Heidi Heffelfinger opened the scoring, tying the game at 7-7 to start a back-and-forth third quarter. The Aztecs briefly retook the lead before
Petra Klemm scored to make it 8-8. Goalkeeper
Orli Cooper made three straight saves to hold off the Aztecs before Heffelfinger put Harvard on top with her second goal of the quarter. The Aztecs leveled at the end of the period to make the score 9-9 heading into the final eight minutes.
The Crimson made a series of key defensive stops to open the fourth quarter before Heffelfinger completed her hat trick to give Harvard a 10-9 lead with just over five minutes remaining.
Maya O'Dea and
Lily Britt scored later in the frame to help Harvard pull away.
Ella Schneider and O'Dea potted empty net goals to seal the 14-9 win for the Crimson.
Harvard 13, San Jose State 4
Harvard 14, No. 9 San Diego State 9
- Maya O'Dea led the team with four goals
- Hedi Heffelfinger chipped in with a hat-trick and three assists.
- Lily Britt and Ella Schneider each scored twice and Petra Klemm recorded one goal.
- Niki Piovan scored twice and recorded a team-high four blocks.
- Orli Cooper made 12 saves in goal.
- Harvard outscored SDSU, 5-0, in the fourth quarter.
Up Next
The Crimson's Spring Break trip through California continues Wednesday (Mar. 18) with a pair of contests against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges and Pomona-Pitzer. Game times are set for 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM EST, respectively.
