"Metro is traditionally very good," Pyka said. "They have a lot of experience. Our decisive win over them was really a boost to our confidence."
Later Saturday afternoon, the Crimson faced off against Princeton, one of the stronger teams from the Ivy League.
"We didn't know what to expect," Pyka said. "Last year they were really strong."
The game featured intense physical play and although the Tigers stayed close early on, at the final buzzer the Crimson had a convincing 10-4 win.
The aquawomen were not through for the day, yet. Harvard faced its third opponent of the day, Dartmouth, late Saturday afternoon.
The Big Green, who had lost to the Crimson, 22-4, last weekend, made Saturday's affair more interesting by staying with the Crimson through the first half.
The second half, however, belonged to Harvard and the squad cruised to a 12-5 win.
"We were all a little exhausted," Pyka said. "We were upset with how we started the game, but we were able to turn on the energy in the last half."
Over the weekend, the Crimson offense was paced by junior Ana Dujmovic, who scored nearly half of Harvard's goals.
The Crimson also received a stand-out performance by freshman starter, Una Kim.
"Una played really well," Pyka said. "She really came into her own over the weekend, and she's definitely proven herself in recent games."
In goal, junior Cheryl Frank continued to parry opponents shots with outstanding consistency. Except for the Brown game, Frank has kept every opponent below ten goals.
"She [Cheryl] did an awesome job," Pyka said. "She's not only blocking the shots, but she's been much more aggressive in stealing passes as well."
Looking to this weekend's Northern Division Playoffs, Harvard's toughest competition figures to be Brown, again. The top four teams in the playoffs will move on to Easterns, April 28-30.
Despite the loss to the Bears, the aquawomen appear confident that a rematch in the playoffs--which will be held at Blodgett Pool, Friday through Sunday--would produce different results.
"We know we can beat Brown this weekend," Pyka said. "And we will."