This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Nora Princiotti.
Senior day is always bittersweet.
The Colonials got all their scoring from their seniors Saturday as they celebrated the final home game of their collegiate careers, but it wasn’t enough for the victory, falling to Harvard 10-8.
Senior Megan Brolley led the Colonials with three goals, followed by classmates Erin Dickson and Katherine Berry with two and Allison Littlejohn with one.
The Colonials, though, didn’t have an answer on defense for Harvard’s own senior, Yoshi Anderson, who scored a game-high six goals.
Having not played since March 12, head coach Scott Reed said his team looked “a little rusty,” but was able to keep at the fast pace they like to play at.
Harvard struck first, but as was necessary all day, GW quickly answered back. On the counterattack, Brolley pulled up in front of the net and arched the ball up and over the head of Crimson goalkeeper Ariel Dukes, who had seven saves on the day. All three of Brolley’s goals Saturday came off the counterattack.
“It’s all about trusting my teammates to pass it down the pool,” Brolley said. “I like to counter – and I can’t do that without a strong defense.”
Although the defense fed Brolley’s successful attacks, Reed said the aggressive play was also a liability at times. The Colonials had the ball stolen eight times in the game.
“We didn’t protect the ball very well. We had a lot of turnovers in that game,” he said. “A lot of times we got so cluttered that we weren’t able to identify those open players right away and that kind of hurt us a bit in the end.”
Down by one in the final minutes of the game, GW’s defense crashed in around Harvard’s center, catching up to prevent what should have been a one-on-one situation with GW goalkeeper, junior Chandler Vilander, who tallied four saves in the game.
The Crimson passing game appeared suffocated as the shot-clock wound down and the Colonials defense pushed Harvard’s ball-handlers further away from the net, but all of a sudden, GW missed a beat and a Harvard attacker got open with a clear line at the net. She rocketed a shot passed Vilander’s arms for the final goal of the game, undoing in an instant the strong play that could have led to a Colonials comeback.
“Our defense was really strong throughout the whole game but there were one or two moments where we kind of lapsed for a second,” Brolley said.
Senior Rachael Bentley, who comically sat on GW George’s knee for her senior day photo before the game, found herself sitting again when she was ejected in the third quarter of the game after getting into early foul trouble.
“It’s unfortunate,” Reed said. “[Bentley] getting in foul trouble in the first period created some issues throughout the game.”
The loss to the southern division foe is a setback for the Colonials in their quest for the Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division Championships beginning April 12. For the seniors who performed so well in their final home game, there’s extra motivation to bring that type of play on the road in order to go deep into the postseason.
“We’re trying to put ourselves in a good bracket for regional championships. This kind of sets us back a little bit. We’re trying for that 2-3 seed if possible,” Reed said. “We’re going to have to go and try and win at least two of the three upcoming games and hope for some upset losses in there as well.”
Three division road games still remain for the Colonials next week, the first coming against Mercyhurst at 1 p.m. on April 5.
