PRINCETON, N.J — No. 18-ranked Harvard University received a contest-high five goals from Sasha Constandse (Jr., Irvine, Calif./Mater Dei) to pick-up Player of the Game notice as the Crimson dominated Bucknell University, 23-10, in the opening game of the 2023 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship hosted by Princeton University in DeNunzio Pool.
Courtesy the victory, the Crimson (22-8, 5-5 CWPA) advance to a semifinal date with No. 9/six-time defending CWPA Champion the University of Michigan at 2:00 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, April 29, at DeNunzio in the tournament semifinals. The game marks the third meeting of the year between Harvard and the Wolverines as Michigan picked up 14-6 and 15-8 victories during the regular season.
The Harvard-Michigan game marks a rematch of the 2022 CWPA Championship title tilt claimed by Michigan via a 10-4 decision at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.
Overall, Harvard is guaranteed to finish no lower than fourth place in the final six-team tournament standings as the Crimson previously finished eighth (2006, 2007, 2010), seventh (2001, 2002, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2018), sixth (2003, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016), fifth (2004, 2005), fourth (2017, 2019), third (2000) and second (2022) in the modern history of the championship since 2001.
The Bison (5-25, 0-10 CWPA) fall into the fifth place game and will conclude their season at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 29, against the loser of a first round game pitting No. 20 Brown University and Saint Francis University. Bucknell finished winless against both programs during the regular season as the Bison fell to Brown (14-9 L, 14-10 L) and Saint Francis (16-11 L, 10-9 OT L, 9-7 L).
In the history of Bucknell women’s water polo, the program has previously finished second (2021), third (2019), fourth (2006), fifth (2010, 2016, 2018), sixth (2008, 2014, 2017, 2022), seventh (2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015), eighth (2003, 2012), ninth (2000) and 11th (2002) since 2000 in the many versions of the CWPA/Eastern Championship.
Although the final differential was 13 goals, the Bison were the first to strike in commencing the 2023 championship weekend as Bella Schraa (Fr., Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) broke the ice with 6:09 left in the first quarter to stake Bucknell to a quick 1-0 margin.
The lead lasted for 23 seconds as Ruby Hodge (Fr., San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) hurled in an equalizer at 5:46. Hodge’s tally ignited a 6-0 scoring spree by the Crimson as Jaiden Miller (Sr., Coquitlam, B.C./Dr. Charles Best Secondary) (5:08), Grace Thawley (Sr., Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei) (4:22), Borden Wahl (Sr., Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich Academy) (3:58), Ella Schneider (Fr., San Clemente, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) (3:01) and Kaity Greenwald (So., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) (1:47) followed to push Harvard ahead 6-1 with under two minutes left in the opening frame.
Gwen Kallmeyer (Fr., Mill Valley, Calif./Redwood) terminated the run at 1:15 courtesy a man-up marker, but Constandse returned the margin to five prior to the final horn of the first quarter by rifling in a power-play opportunity with 46 seconds on the clock to make it 7-2 after eight minutes of action.
Brooke Hourigan (Sr., Newport Beach, Calif./Orange Lutheran) widened the gap to 9-2 with natural (7:23) and five-meter penalty shot (5:49) scores less than two and a half minutes into the second quarter. Schraa shaved Bucknell’s deficit down to six at 9-3 at 5:35, but Thawley (3:38) and Schneider (2:27) delivered responses as Harvard inflated its scoreboard advantage to 11-3.
Kallmeyer (1:56) chipped a goal off the Crimson advantage to move Bucknell within 11-4, but Annabel Facey (Jr., Menlo Park, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) (1:33, man-up), Dany Zapata (So., Cali, Colombia/Meriden School) (1:07, man-up) and Heidi Heffelfinger (Fr., Lafayette, Calif./Acalanes) (31 seconds) torched the Bison for back-to-back-to-back tallies to push the lead out to 14-4.
Bucknell moved back within 10 scores prior to the halftime horn as Chloe Smith (Sr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) swished a man-up opportunity with seven seconds left on the second quarter clock to inch with 14-5 through 16 minutes of competition.
The Crimson got the goal back – plus one – within the first two minutes of the third quarter as Evan Tingler (Sr., Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach) (7:25) and Hourigan (6:14) sliced in shots to make it 16-5. Megan LaCroix (Sr., Saratoga, Calif./Saint Francis) lashed the cage with a scoring blast at 4:59 to again place Bucknell within 10 at 16-6 prior to Smith (4:08, man-up) and Sidney Finkler (So., Annapolis, Md./South River) (2:45) following suit to shrink the Bison’s deficit to 16-8 with under three minutes left in the third quarter.
However, Harvard hampered any hopes of a Bucknell rally as Constandse converted on penalty shot (2:30) and natural (1:55) goals prior to Wahl wailing in the final coffin nail of the third quarter with 34 seconds left to stake the Crimson to a 19-8 margin heading into the fourth quarter.
Bella Moynihan (Sr., San Anselmo, Calif./Sir Francis Drake) chipped Bucknell’s scoreboard disadvantage back to 10 at 19-9 48 seconds (7:12) into the final eight minutes, but Harvard hammered home four final blows prior to the final buzzer.
Constandse (5:42, penalty shot; 1:43), Zapata (4:52, man-up) and Ella Prentice (Jr., Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos) (2:20) ticked off back-to-back-to-back-to-back bullseyes to extend the lead to 23-9 prior to Smith capping off a hat-trick with 16 seconds left on the scoreboard for the 23-10 final score.
Harvard – which improves to 3-0 against Bucknell in 2023 with previous 19-7 and 18-9 wins – received multi-goal games from Constandse (five), Hourigan (three), Thawley (two), Wahl (two), Schneider (two) and Zapata (two) along with solo strikes by Prentice, Facey, Miller, Greenwald, Tingler, Heffelfinger and Hodge.
In cage, Zoe Banks (Sr., Palo Alto, Calif./Henry M. Gunn) and Alexis Kieckhafer (Jr, Coto de Caza, Calif./Santa Margarita) stopped three and two shots during the first and second halves, respectively, with Banks picking up the victory as the goalie of record.
On the other end of DeNunzio’s water, Smith (three), Kallmeyer (two) and Schraa (two) combined for seven of the Bison’s 10 goals. Moynihan, LaCroix and Finkler each found the back twine once in support of a four save effort by Sam Gove (Sr, Rockport, Mass./Phillips Exeter Academy).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Bucknell University |
2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | – | 10 |
| No. 18 Harvard University | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | – | 23 |
| Harvard Goals: | Sasha Constandse (5); Brooke Hourigan (3); Grace Thawley (2); Borden Wahl (2); Ella Schneider (2); Dany Zapata (2): Ella Prentice; Annabel Facey; Jaiden Miller; Kaity Greenwald; Evan Tingler; Heidi Heffelfinger; Ruby Hodge | |||||
| Bucknell Goals: | Chloe Smith (3); Gwen Kallmeyer (2); Bella Schraa (2); Bella Moynihan; Megan LaCroix; Sidney Finkler | |||||
| Saves: | Harvard – Zoe Banks (3, 16 minutes), Alexis Kieckhafer (2, 16 minutes) ; Bucknell – Sam Gove (4) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Harvard – 14 ; Bucknell – 9 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Harvard – 7-for-9 ; Bucknell – 3-for-14 | |||||
| Sprints: | Harvard – 2-for-4 (1st, 4th) ; Bucknell – 2-for-4 (2nd, 3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Harvard – None ; Bucknell – None | |||||
| Officials: | Joe Peila; Stephanie Villalobos | |||||
