"Nationals have been such a great experience for all of these girls to play at a level like that," co-captain Sarah Rosa '07 said. "Most of the teams in the New England league aren't very challenging. Most of the girls cross over from a different sport like swimming and they're just learning the sport. The teams at nationals have girls that have been playing for awhile. [Dartmouth] learned a lot for next year. Our younger girls definitely got a lot out of it."
The club has 12 members, which includes players from all classes and one graduate student. Team members include co-captain Alexandra Walker '07, goalie Laura Crowe '08 and Alexandra Owens '06, who scored five goals in four games at nationals. Rosa explained that this year nearly half of the team's members had previous experience in the pool.
"Most of them have had some swimming background," Rosa said.
The road to the national championship tournament was marked by Dartmouth's domination in league play. Competing in the New England section from February until May, the Big Green went a perfect 12-0 against division opponents Yale, Middlebury, Wesleyan and Williams.
The club played in two regular season tournaments this season, both on the road. The tournaments both lasted from Saturday to Sunday, with the team playing two games per day.
Dartmouth's undefeated mark in the regular season gave the squad the top seed at the New England championships held April 20 to April 21. The Big Green swept the competition, winning the section and earning a spot in nationals.
As the champions of the New England region, Dartmouth came into the tournament with the No. 8 seed. The University of Michigan from the Big Ten division was the tournament's No. 1 seed. The Big Green finished the tournament going 1-3, falling in the 11th place game to No. 14 Notre Dame 13-7 on Sunday.
The winners of each geographic division across the United States earned a spot at the championships, with seedings determined by the division's finish in last year's tournament. The host school, this year Williams, automatically earns the last seed.
Teams from all across the country participated, including No. 2 University of Florida, No. 5 University of Arizona and No. 9 University of Oregon. Fellow Ivy Leaguers No. 10 University of Pennsylvania of the Mid Atlantic division and No. 11 Columbia of the New York division also earned spots in the tournament.
Rosa said that while the seeding is out of the team's hands, claiming a middle seed made things difficult early on for Dartmouth.
"Sometimes it puts you in a tight place," she said. "In our first game we had to play a fairly highly ranked team in the top 20 [in the polls]. Our first game was very tough and knocked us out of the top eight right away."
The Big Green dropped its first game to No. 9 Oregon, 8-6, on Friday despite four goals from Rosa. But Dartmouth rebounded later that evening to dispatch No. 16 Williams 5-2 thanks to goals from five separate players.
Dartmouth went on to drop its last two games of the tournament, losing to Miami (Ohio) University 6-4 on Saturday after the Red Hawks scored two unanswered goals in the final frame, and falling to Notre Dame on Sunday.
"In our third game [against Miami], the goalie was on point and every shot she was up there," Rosa said. "She was an amazing player and there's no way around it.
No. 3 seed Fresno State made their cross-country trip worthwhile, edging No. 13 Cal Tech in the finals 4-3 to take the women's club water polo crown.
Despite the lone win, Rosa believed the experience of nationals was a big plus for team members.
Rosa, who started water polo in fifth grade, earned first-team all tournament honors in part for her nine-goal performance over four games.
Four players from second-place Cal Tech and two players from tournament champion Fresno State helped round out the first-team. Team selections were decided by coaches and referees.
"I was very honored," Rosa said. "I wasn't expecting it at all, because usually they draw from those upper teams. It was a big honor to be ranked up there with those girls."
Before securing a spot at nationals, the club scheduled non-league scrimmages to hone its skills and give younger players playing time against area schools. This included the Big Green's only home match, against Boston College, on Tuesday, May 1, at Karl Michael Pool.
Water polo is played with six field players and one goalkeeper. Play is continuous so all players play both offense and defense. Over four eight-minute periods, the team tries to score goals by hurling the ball into the opponents net. Each goal is worth one point.
Without a formal coach, Rosa and Walter acted as default coaches at practices. However, when the team decides to scrimmage, a referee usually comes from the neighboring area and monitors the informal contests.
In a typical week the Big Green scheduled five afternoon practice sessions and two morning sessions, with the option of a Saturday practice if the team did not have a match.
"We have a pretty good turnout every time," Rosa said of the practices. "We try to function as a varsity sport with the intensity and the amount of training. When girls sign up we tell them that right off the bat."
