CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The No. 18-ranked Harvard University women’s water polo team jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the first half on the way to a 9-6 defeat of No. 15 the University of California-Santa Barbara.
Maya O’Dea opened the scoring with the first two Crimson goals. Striking first on the power play, O’Dea picked the corner from the far side of the pool to get the Crimson off and running.
With a 2-1 lead, Niki Piovan put away a strike as the shot clock was expiring to help Harvard regain a two-goal lead.
Ruby Hodge scored next for the Crimson after going bar down to give the home team its largest lead of the night heading into halftime.
Piovan scored again to make it 7-3 with under a minute to go in the third quarter.
Piovan finished the game with a hat-trick while also picking up two helpers for a five-point game.
Erin Kim added a pair of assists.
Lucy Berkman and Ella Schneider both found the back of the net once as six Crimson athletes scored in the win.
Orli Cooper made 10 saves in the cage to help hand the Crimson its first win of the weekend.
Information courtesy Harvard University Athletics Communications
