It was worth the wait.

A year after coming within a point of qualifying for the NCAAs, the No. 18 Harvard women's water polo team accomplished its goal yesterday. The Crimson assured itself of a spot in this weekend's National Championships by taking third place at the College Water Polo Association Eastern Championships in Princeton.

The Crimson's appearance at Nationals will be its first in seven years.

"This was just a great weekend for the team," Harvard Coach Jim Floerchinger said. "We played stifling defense all weekend long, and were basically able to command other teams."

Although the Crimson was still unable to solve the Minutewomen of UMass in the tournament's semifinal game, Harvard clinched a trip to Indiana University next week with a 9-4 victory over No. 20 Villanova in the decisive third-place game.

No. 9 Princeton defeated No. 13 UMass in the tournament's championship game, and will join the Crimson in representing eastern water polo at the 16-team national tournament.

"We're all really excited about this," tri-captain Angela Munoz said. "Especially the seniors who have been waiting for this for so long. It's been our goal all year, and here we are."

The clinching win was Harvard's second over a ranked Villanova team in two weeks. On April 2nd, the Crimson easily defeated the Wildcats, 9-1, at the ECAC Championship.

This win was also surprisingly easily. Tri-captain Leslie Bennett was superb in the middle, scoring three of her four goals in the fourth quarter.

"Leslie was really great out there," Floerchinger said. "She had struggled in a few previous games, but she really turned it on this time out."

Sophomore netminder Danielle McCarthy had ten blocks -including a rejection of an early 'Nova penalty shot -and anchored a defense that shut down the Wildcat attack.

"We knew we'd win going into this one," Munoz said. "We beat them last time, and since then we've just been working on the same defense that beat them at ECACs."

Floerchinger added that, despite the closer margin, this was the more impressive of the two wins.

"The last time we met them, they didn't play very well and we were great," Floerchinger said. "This time, they executed a lot better. They pulled out their 'A' game, and we were still able to get past them."

In the semifinal game, the Crimson lost another tough match to a strong UMass squad, 8-4. In defeating the Crimson for the fifth time this year, Minutewomen goaltender Dana Sinkwich had 16 saves in the contest, and held Harvard scoreless until the third quarter.

"It was a hard game to be disappointed about," Floerchinger said. "They played an outstanding game, and so did we. They're just a great team."

In the first elimination game, Harvard cruised past George Washington, 14-6.

The NCAA appearance will cap off Harvard's recent ascent in the sport. Once largely unrecognized by the water polo community, the team came a game short of reaching this milestone last year under mid-season replacement Rick Handt.

Floerchinger took the helm this year, and the combined abilities of Floerchinger and Handt, as well another year of experience, was enough to take the team to the next level.

"It's been a while since this has happened," Munoz said. "It's great because we'll get a lot more respect -from the athletic department, from other teams, from everybody."

The team will fly to Indiana on Thursday. Although seeding has not yet been determined, the Crimson will likely face one of the west's elite teams in the opening round on Friday.

"Chances are we'll end up playing one of the tough California teams," Munoz said. "I guess that could be a good or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. We're curious to see what happens."

Floerchinger was more optimistic.

"Hey, we'll go in as one of the low seeds, but we'll get a chance to take on the big guns," he said. "You can't ask for more than that."