The Harvard women’s water polo team’s first three season opening games proved that while the Crimson can best most of its Ivy League competitors, it still has a ways to go before knocking No. 15 Brown from its place as league powerhouse.

The Crimson (2-1) took second place behind the Bears (4-0) at this past weekend’s season opening Ivy League Tournament at Yale, losing in the championship game 8-1. The loss came after two Harvard wins—a decisive 9-3 victory over Yale and a 17-4 trouncing of Cornell, respectively— on Saturday.

Brown 8, Harvard 1

Since Brown was the only other official varsity team at the tournament—club teams represented the other Ivy schools—the Crimson knew the nationally ranked Bears would be its toughest competitor.

Harvard’s lone goal in the game came from sophomore driver Sarah Kennifer, who scored a total of six goals on the weekend, second highest on the team.

Sophomore goalie Lydia Gardner posted six saves throughout the game, but her efforts were not enough to stop Brown from dominating Harvard by the end of the contest.

While the Crimson played competitively for the first three quarters of the game, the team collapsed in the final seven minutes. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the score was 4-1. The Bears were able to double their score while shutting down the otherwise effective Crimson offense.

“Brown had a lot more girls to substitute in whenever they grew fatigued,” sophomore Cristina Codini said. “Their deep bench allowed them to outlast us in the pool.”

Harvard recognized Brown’s higher level of play this early in the season. Nevertheless, some members of the Crimson questioned much of the game’s action.

“The big problem was that Brown plays a much more aggressive game then we have practiced. The referees were letting a lot of contact slide without calling fouls, and that put us at a disadvantage,” senior Liz Anderson said.

Anderson, however, looks forward to Harvard’s next meeting with the Bears when the Crimson will be “better prepared for their questionable tactics.”

While the game against Brown proved to be frustrating for the Crimson, Harvard’s performance in the first two games of the tournament gave it confidence that it has the capability to topple Brown the next time they meet.

Harvard 9, Yale 3

Though still a club team, Yale did not allow Harvard to swim to an easy victory.

In wasn’t until the last two quarters of its first game that the Crimson settled down and took a commanding lead.