Women's Water Polo Opens Season With Pair of Victories

In its first games of the regular season, it did not take long for the Harvard women’s water polo team to mesh together.

Playing in a doubleheader at Villanova on Saturday, the Crimson (2-0) achieved back-to-back victories over Villanova (0-3) and Iona (0-3), 17-9 and 16-15, respectively.

HARVARD 16, IONA 15

Harvard saw its second win of the day come in dramatic fashion, prevailing in a double-overtime battle against the Gaels.

Down by four goals with 4:28 left in the fourth quarter, the Crimson managed to rally back with a scoring rally from junior Kalina Grabb, sophomore Yoshi Andersen, freshman Michelle Martinelli, and co-captain Shayna Price. When the buzzer sounded at the end of regulation, the two teams were tied at 13.

Andersen led the Harvard offense for the game, finishing with five goals on 10 shots and one assist.

“We were mentally tough,” Price said. “We were down…and came back with four goals in four minutes. In the last minutes we stole the ball and put it away and kept our heads in the game to make sure that we played with urgency, but it was a patient urgency and I think that’s what paid off for us.”

The team met the overtime challenge full on as it answered Iona’s goal in the opening minute of the fifth frame with a tally from sophomore Charlotte Hendrix, which pushed the game into an additional extra round of play.

After each team surrendered another goal, Harvard sealed the deal on a 6-5 advantage with 1:06 left in the game.

“It was pretty crazy,” co-captain Ariel Dukes said. “Iona did a great job and played a great game, but things just started going our way. It was a pretty hard fought overtime, but I’m happy with the way our team stayed calm and kept fighting.”

Over the course of the contest, the Crimson outshot Iona, 45-41, with Dukes making seven saves on the night. Harvard went 8-for-12 on power plays, while Iona converted 10 of the 18 times it possessed an advantage.

“We were both physically and mentally tough all the way to the end,” Price said. “It shows we are going to have a great season, but I think it also shows that we have a lot to work on.”

HARVARD 17, VILLANOVA 9

In the front end of the doubleheader, the Crimson encountered early adversity but rode to victory in its first game of the season.

Villanova came out in the first period with four goals to Harvard's three, but the visitors were able to turn the trend on its head, outscoring the Wildcats in each of the following three frames.

The Crimson received a large offensive contribution from the younger players on the team. With seven new freshmen joining the mix this season, the squad looks to formulate a game plan that works to each of their strengths.

“Having more players, especially seeing how good the freshmen are, brings new energy onto the team every time,” Price said. “Offensively, we are able to play a full game with the energy that the freshmen are bringing along with everyone off the bench.”

Price was the most notable asset in Harvard’s offense for the game, finishing with four goals on five shots. Andersen scored three times on her seven attempts; Martinelli, Hendrix, freshman Melissa Balding, and freshman Alexis Del Toro each had two goals.

Although Dukes made eight saves on Villanova’s 28 shots, defense is still a facet of the game the team hopes to improve upon.

“We need to work on our defense because we had a lot of kick-outs,” Price said. “Also, our driving is not so hot. We also missed a bunch of five-meter [shots] during the game that we want to capitalize on next time around.”

Harvard’s power play was effective throughout the game, as the team scored three goals on its man-up opportunities. On the other side of the pool, the Crimson successfully limited Villanova’s power plays, holding its opponents to just two tallies on its 15 chances.

“This weekend, we took it as a real learning experience against two very good teams, so I think it’s a matter of taking the things that we learned and implementing them into practice,” Dukes said. “That will make a good team even better.”

—Staff writer Ariel Smolik-Valles can be reached at asmolikvalles@college.harvard.edu.