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.

The 10-1 loss was actually as close as Harvard would come to UMass in the three matchups between the two teams, the cream of the Bay State.

The New England's, at Harvard the next weekend, were Harvard's last home games, and the final tournament before New England Divisionals, which would determine a spot at Easterns.

Harvard won both its games, 15-1 over Wellesley and 17-12 over Brown, but the latter win was less convincing than the Crimson would have liked in its tune-up for better competition down the road.

"We knew we were the better team, but we let ourselves play down to their level," Naber said.

After a win over Mount Holyoke and a second loss to UMass, 16-2 in Amherst, Harvard entered Divisionals confident that it was New England's second-best team, but skeptical due to its lackluster showing against Brown and in practice.

The Crimson did not disappoint, posting sound wins over B.C., 22-6 and 13-5, and Brown before suffering its third loss to UMass on the season, 19-3.

"I was kind of worried about the team going into Divisionals because our practices have been flat," said Gahan after the tournament. "But the team pleasantly surprised me, going out and whipping B.C., then playing its best match of the year against Brown."

Needing a top-three finish to qualify for Easterns, Harvard beat out Brown for second behind the Minutewomen.

"UMass is just in another stratosphere," said sophomore Angela Munoz.

Harvard got its chance to enter that stratosphere the following weekend, April 24-26 at Maryland. It failed, but the season was not a failure.

After a long bus ride to Maryland, Harvard opened Easterns on the evening of the 24th against typically-weak Queens College. The Crimson was able to overcome its initial grogginess to post a 14-5 victory.

"It was an eight-hour trip, so we were feeling a little stiff and a little flat," said sophomore Katherine Hodge. "We didn't have to play our best to beat them."

The real disappointment of the weekend came the following morning, when Villanova handed Harvard a 12-10 loss, rallying from behind to snatch away the win after the Crimson led most of the way.

The heartbreaker was a major setback because Harvard was one of several teams battling for the two qualifying spots behind UMass, so a loss to a non-contender was unacceptable.

But rather than give up after its first loss, Harvard went out and played one of its toughest games of the year against host Maryland.

"We were all pretty pumped after the loss to Villanova and we wanted to show Maryland a thing or two," Hodge said. "It was one of the best games we've played as a team this season."

Unfortunately it was an 11-4 loss and eliminated Harvard from contention for a spot in the national tournament. But the Crimson rebounded with a 9-4 win over Brown, who played its own season in Harvard's shadow.

The season held just one more game, a rematch against Slippery Rock. The score was knotted at seven after 21 minutes, but the Rock scored seven unanswered in the final quarter to ice the game and hand the Crimson its sixth place finish.

It may be a mixed blessing for Harvard that next season, good won't be good enough. The Crimson graduates six seniors--including co-captains Naber and Amanda Moger, along with Ingrid Anderson and Gunderson returning to help anchor a strong class of returnees, Harvard water polo may finally be ready to take the next step.