No. 11 Harvard Mauls Brown, Earns Program’s First No. 1 Seed for CWPA Championships

PROVIDENCE, RI – Harvard prevailed over Ivy League rival Brown University in a standalone Saturday match, securing the first seed heading into the CWPA Conference Championships for the first time in program history.

The win also marks three straight victories for the Crimson (24-3, 5-1 CWPA) in the series against the Bears (13-11, 3-3 CWPA), and a two-year streak of spoiling their senior night.

Junior attacker Lily Britt won the opening sprint for possession, enabling sophomore attacker Sofia Del Villar to score the first point of the match.

Soon after, Brown muscled its way through the Harvard defense and was awarded a penalty shot.

But the attempt was ultimately blocked by sophomore goalkeeper Orli Cooper, who was recently named to the Peter J. Cutino Award Watchlist as one of the best women’s collegiate water polo players of the year.

“I couldn’t do anything without the team. I am there for them,” Cooper said. “So all of my achievements are a reflection of them.”

The award winner will be announced at a ceremony on June 6.

More than three minutes into the first quarter, the Bears finally tied up the score.

Both teams’ benches constantly erupted in cheers during a series of blocked shots both ways, but Brown celebrated a near-steal too soon as Britt’s ensuing point promptly silenced the home team.

The Bears managed to deliver on a penalty shot to knot the score at 2-2 with three minutes left in the first quarter.

Eager defenders for the Crimson and Brown alike forced several frustrating turnovers in a row.

“When that is happening, we just have to stay controlled and not let that affect our mindset and just keep going and try to do better than the last possession,” Del Villar said.

A steal by captain utility Ella Schneider broke the pattern and set fellow senior utility Heidi Heffelfinger up for a goal.

Del Villar then gave Harvard the match’s first two-point lead.

However, the Bears responded, fighting their way to the front of the goal and tipping in a quick pass to end the first quarter down only 4-3.

A ways into the second, junior attacker Maya O’Dea executed a deep-angle penalty shot to restore the two-point lead amid a stretch of back-and-forth turnovers.

O’Dea, adding insult to injury, returned to the goal on a breakaway to deposit a small toss over the goalie’s head and in.

Brown struggled to answer. It was forced to take – and miss – awkward shots as the Crimson increasingly clamped down on scoring attempts.

“I thought we did a great job of settling down and getting into our flow and doing a better job on defense. If we can settle in and play defense, the offense will come,” head coach Ted Minnis said.

Out of a timeout, O’Dea delivered once more to give Harvard a strong 7-3 lead and achieve a hat trick.

Brown finally found the back of the net with just a minute left in the first half, rerunning its rapid assist-to-tip play and again catching the Crimson off-guard.

The Bears continued their momentum with an early point at the beginning of the third quarter.

Off an assist from O’Dea, Heffelfinger swung the ball around a Brown defender and into the goal.

Del Villar followed suit with another point to earn a hat trick.

Brown’s desperation began to show through messy scuffles right at the Crimson’s net. But, even with a player out on an exclusion, Harvard successfully smothered its opponent’s efforts.

Heffelfinger tallied a point after a sustained Crimson fight to recover two blocked shots that caused confusion even among the officials.

The Bears’ bench quieted as they ended a scoreless third quarter and sat at only half of Harvard’s score, 10-5.

As per usual, the Crimson remained disciplined and unrelenting despite boasting a seemingly decisive lead. Harvard picked up two more points before a minute and a half had elapsed.

Del Villar scored a fourth personal point off the Brown goalie’s elbow, and Britt pushed the Crimson lead to nine on the following possession.

Brown finally managed to tally not one, but two points well past the halfway point of the quarter, shooting at the first open spaces it could find.

Lucy Levenberg-Penklis responded, executing a simple lob to extend Harvard’s lead to 15-7.

Levenberg-Penklis then stole the ball to cut short the Bears’ last possession, and the Crimson waited out the remaining seconds of the match to secure its win.

Next weekend, the Crimson head to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the CWPA Championships. Harvard – as the first seed – receives a first-round bye and will begin competition April 11 in the semi-finals.

—Staff writer Bennett Trubey can be reached at [email protected].