One could frame the Harvard women's water polo team's season as a series of wins against lesser or equal opponents sandwiched in between losses to big-time programs. In its 17-10 season, the Crimson showed that it was good, but still a notch below beasts of the East like UMass, Princeton and Maryland.

Needing a third place finish to qualify for Nationals, Harvard finished sixth at the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Championships, capping a solid season--with much remaining to be done--for the team and first-year Coach Sachi Gahan '94. The Crimson spent most of the season ranked in the nation's top 20, but ultimately was unable to break into the upper echelon.

Individually, three Harvard players--co-captain Mary Naber and freshmen Jesse Gunderson and Natasha Magnuson--qualified for the U.S. National Women's Water Polo "B" Team, a testament to the team's strong mix of young and veteran talent.

Record: 17-10

Coach: Sachi Gahan '94

Highlights: Reached Easterns; Jesse Gunderson, Natasha Magnuson and Mary Naber named to U.S. National "B" Team.

Seniors: Ingird Andersen, Olivia Denton, Tracy Guice, Julie Kitchenka, Amanda Moger, Mary Naber

The season began at the Princeton Invitational on February 28, in the home pool of arch-rival Princeton, one of the teams that would act as a measuring stick for Harvard throughout the 1998 campaign. The Crimson won one and lost two at the tournament, but all three games were played against stiff competition. Harvard managed a one-point win over Villanova, 11-10, and losses to Princeton, 7-5, and former powerhouse Slippery Rock, 13-6.

"The win-loss record [at the Invitational] is not a true indicator of how well we played," freshman Natasha Magnuson said.

Princeton would be typical of the season overall--close, but no cigar.

Harvard followed the Invitational with a close 12-9 loss to Maryland, one of the elites of Eastern water polo. The Crimson's early 1-3 record was a poor indicator of its talent level, as it showed by winning nine of its next 10 games.

It was no surprise that the one loss was at the hands of the Tigers, at the Ivy League Invitational on the weekend of March 7. Harvard won four games in convincing fashion over Wellesley and Ancient Eight foes Yale, Brown and Dartmouth, but Princeton handed Harvard a two-goal loss, 6-4.

"We crushed all the teams before Princeton because of our strong counter-attack," Gahan said. "The problem is when we come up against a team, such as Princeton, that can shut down our counter-attack. Then it comes down to set defenses versus set offenses. That's where we lost it."

Several positives came out of the Invitational. Not only did Harvard win the games it should have and show that it could play on a par with the Tigers, but the tournament showcased the emerging talent of rookies Magnuson and Gunderson, who scored all of Harvard's goals against the Tigers.

After five easy wins over some of New England's also-rans--Bowdoin, Boston University, Boston College, Wellesley and MIT--at the CWPA New England Northern Regional, Harvard faced another big test, this time against the perennially top-10 UMass Minutewomen on April 1.