This time around, Harvard trailed by just one with under a minute remaining, but the squad was unable to mount a charge great enough to bring the score level and ultimately fell 8-6.

“Sometimes our team lapses from the state of unity that allows us to be great,” Tina Codini said. “I think we can build through this though, so that eventually we can play four straight quality quarters together.”

Freshman Sarah Kennifer led the way with two tallies.

“We let them get ahead in the first quarter and weren’t able to recover the three-goal deficit,” Peterson said. “Again, we learned our lesson about coming out strong and ready to play.”

Roaring back, Harvard handily brushed aside Occidental College 13-5 to close the tournament on a winning note.

As in games past in which the Crimson faced off against a weaker opponent, Harvard varied its lineup and experimented with new formations and plays in the water.

The Crimson opened up a six-goal lead on the Tigers and never looked back.

Though freshman Arin Keyser was the primary offensive weapon of the evening, scoring four goals, five different swimmers scored at least one goal.

California Swing

Revisiting another opponent from the beginning of its season, Harvard was unable to keep up with No. 11 California-Santa Barbara’s talent and lost 9-3.

Though the margin of defeat was almost equal to the eight-goal decision the Crimson dropped in its Feb. 15 season opener, the tone of the game was not entirely the same.

Earlier in the year, the Gauchos had been able to rest their top lines while still maintaining a distinct edge over the top Harvard formations.

On this occasion, however, the Crimson managed to keep pressure on UCSB for the duration of the game, preventing the Gauchos from removing their top line as before.

“Santa Barbara is an extremely strong team,” Tina Codini said. “We started off very strong against them and forced them to keep their A-team in to hold our scoring down.”

Kennifer, sophomore Stephanie Lee and Teresa Codini scored for Harvard.