Women's water polo, currently ranked third nationally among club teams, went 4-0 this past weekend in the second regional New England tournament at Wesleyan University. This was the first competition since the team returned from its intense training trip in Hawaii over spring break, where it faced imposing competition from international junior national teams as well as national varsity squads.
After an early wake up call Saturday morning, the Big Green came out with a slow start against eighth-ranked Yale, allowing the Lady Bulldogs to match their pace through the first quarter, which ended in a 3"3 tie with goals from Sam Klau '05, Lindsey Pryor '05 and Ally Owens '06. The women woke up for the second quarter, keeping Yale scoreless while putting in two of its own. Klau and Sarah Rosa '07 scored for a 5"3 lead at the half. Dartmouth continued to outpace Yale in the second half, scoring five goals to Yale's three for a final score of 10"6.
Two hours later, the Big Green was back in the tank to face off against host Wesleyan. Despite a close halftime score of 2"1, the dominant Dartmouth squad demolished the Cardinals in the second half, allowing newcomer Kathleen Onifer '08, swimming crossover Liz Allen '06, and backup two-meter set Claire Cage '05 to get on the board in route to a 4"2 victory.
Before the Big Green could get some rest, they would first polish off an improved Williams College team. Sara Rosa '06 led the charge, scoring four goals during the game, while Klau, Allen, Cage and Pryor each scored twice, and Owens and Molly Turner '05 put in one apiece. The final score was 14"3.
Sunday brought yet another win for the Big Green, this time at the expense of Middlebury College. As was the theme for the weekend, the Panthers kept it close during the first quarter, which ended with a 2"1 Dartmouth edge. The floodgates opened during the second quarter, however, as Klau, the 2004 Collegiate Water Polo Association player of the year, rocketed three goals into the cage, followed by Allen and Rosa with one apiece to give the Big Green a comfortable 6"2 lead at the half. Dartmouth extended that lead to a 12"5 victory.
The Big Green will head to the New England Championships this coming weekend at Middlebury College.
Dartmouth goes into the Championships seeded first and is expected to play in the title game on Sunday for a bid to go to the National Collegiate Club Championships at Texas A&M in May.
