CLAREMONT, Calif. — No. 11-ranked Harvard University women’s water polo defeated Division III No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, 17-7, and No. 25/Division III No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, 18-5, scoring a combined 35 goals on the night in a pair of Claremont, Calif., road games.
Harvard has now won 12 straight games, improving to 24-1 in 2026.
Harvard opened the evening by dominating Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The Crimson shut out the Athenas in the first half, scoring 10 goals in the opening 16 minutes. After taking a 3-0 lead through the first quarter, Harvard added seven goals in the second to extend its advantage to double digits. Heidi Heffelfinger, Beatrice Hearey, Maya O’Dea, Petra Klemm and Niki Piovan all found the back of the net in the first half.
CMS scored five times in the third quarter, but Harvard matched their output and maintained control the rest of the way to cruise to its first win of the day.
Heffelfinger, Hearey, and Emma Gilbert each scored twice in the victory, while O’Dea and Piovan recorded hat-tricks.
Sofia Wang, Ella Schneider, Klemm, Sofia Del Villar and Lucy Levenberg-Penklis notched solo markers. Del Villar also tallied three assists.
Orli Cooper made six saves to claim the win, while Sutchie Ofori-Nyako added two in the fourth quarter.
In the second game, Harvard fell behind 3-0 early before responding with goals from Gilbert, Del Villar and Klemm to even the score. Gilbert provided the Crimson their first lead, though Pomona-Pitzer quickly tied it again. Harvard pulled away before halftime, thanks to goals from Lily Britt, O’Dea, and Del Villar to take a 7-4 lead into the break.
The Crimson dominated the second half, scoring 11 of the game’s final 12 goals to secure a 13-marker victory.
Hearey, Del Villar and Gilbert recorded hat-tricks with Levenberg-Penklis and Klemm tacking on pairs of goals.
Lucy Berkman, O’Dea and Piovan added solo strikes.
Del Villar led the team with four points (three goals, one assist).
Cooper made eight saves, while Ofori-Nyako recorded two in the fourth quarter.
Information courtesy Harvard University Athletics Communications
