After Rough Start, W. Water Polo Anticipates Vengeance Vs. Princeton

It's the beginning of March. It's time for the Harvard women's water polo season to begin.

With new coaches, strong returners and solid new additions, the Harvard women's water polo team traveled to Princeton last weekend for the annual Princeton Invitational, but the Crimson came away with a win and three losses.

"The win-loss record is not a true indicator of how well we played," freshman Natasha Magnuson said. "Our performance bodes well for later in the season."

The first opponent was Slippery Rock, once a powerhouse in women's water polo. The two teams were tied for the first quarter and a half, but eventually Slippery Rock edged out the victory.

But Harvard bounced back with a win in the next game, defeating Villanova by an 11-10 margin.

"We were clearly the better team," sophomore Kit Hodge said. "It was just a matter of playing our game."

In the third game, Harvard met an emerging rival in Princeton. Despite maintaining its intensity, which many believed to be a key factor in all of its games, the Crimson suffered a disappointing 7-5 loss.

"This weekend was a good learning experience for ourselves as a team," senior Olivia Denton said. "We hope to triumph over Princeton this coming weekend."

Maryland was the fourth nemesis of the weekend tournament, and the Sunday morning matchup was another close one that did not go the Crimson's way.

Despite these unfortunate results, Harvard is encouraged by its performance and confident in its ability to turn the results in its favor as the season progresses.

"We have a good combination of strong returners and awesome freshmen," Hodge said. "Our intensity continues to build".

With this optimism, Harvard now prepares for a showdown tomorrow night against Wellesley, and the Ivy League Invitational hosted by Harvard this coming weekend.

"We are hoping for a lot of fan support," Denton said.

Hopefully, the home pool will prove an advantage, and Harvard will turn the tide in its favor and add to its win column.