2026 Harvard University Women’s Water Polo Schedule
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Harvard University women’s water polo team will open the 2026 campaign with a four-game weekend and a slate of early-season tournaments.
The reigning Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) champion, the Crimson return to the pool on January 23 coming off the most successful season in program history – a year that saw Harvard win its first-ever conference title and advance to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship tournament for the first time. The Crimson rose as high as No. 8 in the national polls during the historic run.
Recording a program-best 26 wins in 2025, Harvard defeated 16 ranked opponents and entered the CWPA Championship needing to get past both nationally ranked the University of Michigan and Princeton University. Trailing in each contest, the Crimson rallied to secure back-to-back overtime victories in the semifinal and championship games to claim the league crown.
Head coach Ted Minnis enters the 2026 season after being named The James Herscot ’58 Coach of Excellence earlier this fall, following the most successful campaign in program history. Harvard opened last year winning 16 of its first 17 contests, with win No. 16 marking the 250th victory of Minnis’ career. Down the stretch, the Crimson played some of its strongest water polo of the year, capturing five wins in its final six games leading into the CWPA Championship.
In the pool, Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America honorees Niki Piovan, Orli Cooper, Maya O’Dea and Emma Gilbert all return for the 2026 season.
Then-rookie Piovan led the group with a third-team All-America selection, becoming the program’s first third-team honoree since 2023 and only the third in Harvard history. Piovan finished her breakout year with 58 goals and 48 assists, totaling 106 points en route to earning both CWPA Rookie of the Year and CWPA Tournament Rookie of the Tournament honors.
Cooper, O’Dea and Gilbert were each named ACWPC Honorable Mention selections. O’Dea and Gilbert earned the recognition for the second straight season after playing pivotal roles in Harvard’s record-setting year. Cooper, the team’s standout goalkeeper, broke the program’s single-season saves record and was named Most Outstanding Player at the CWPA Tournament.
Harvard opens the season with the Bruno Classic on January 24–25, hosting Wagner College and Iona University in Cambridge on day one before closing the weekend with matchups against Bucknell University and Siena College.
The following weekend, the Crimson head on the road for the first time in 2026, traveling to the Princeton Invitational for a Saturday contest against Long Island University before a Sunday doubleheader with Indiana University and Iona.
The trip to Princeton begins a stretch of nearly a month away from Cambridge, as Harvard continues to Villanova University the next weekend to face Wagner College and California Baptist University before meeting the host Wildcats on Sunday.
After a weekend off, Harvard returns to Pennsylvania for its first conference weekend of the season. The Crimson will take on Bucknell and Saint Francis University on Saturday in Lewisburg before meeting the Michigan and Mercyhurst University in a Sunday doubleheader.
Harvard comes home for six straight games, beginning with a four-game weekend on February 28–March 1 as it hosts the Harvard Invitational. The Crimson will play Villanova for the second time on Saturday morning before meeting the University of California-Merced in the afternoon. On Sunday, Harvard will face Princeton in the first meeting between the teams this season before closing the day against Marist College.
The following weekend, Harvard will host Siena and the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in a Sunday doubleheader before departing for its lone California trip of the season.
Beginning with the University of California-San Diego on March 14, Harvard will compete at the Aztec Invite with contests against San Jose State University and host San Diego State University, followed by a midweek doubleheader against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Wednesday. The Crimson close the trip with a matchup against national powerhouse the University of California-Los Angeles on Saturday before concluding the road swing at the University of California-Irvine on Sunday.
Harvard wraps up the regular season in Providence with a road contest against Brown University on April 4, one final test before the CWPA Championship the following weekend at Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Release courtesy Harvard University Athletics Communications
