Freshman Melissa McHugh, left, and Harvard won three of four in their only homestand this year.

The Harvard women’s water polo team knocked off Ivy rival and No. 18 Brown in an exciting game to complete a 3-1 run in its first and only homestand of the season.

With only 25 seconds left in the game, the Crimson lead the Bears 5-4.

“Own the ball!” shouted Harvard coach Scott Russell to his squad, as it sought to push the ball into the Brown zone as the clock wound down.

But despite its coach’s advice, the Crimson turned the ball over to the Bears inside its own zone. Brown set up its offense looking to equalize, hurling a shot at co-captain Elana Miller in net with two seconds left.

After taking one shot on net, as time expired, the Bears were given a second chance, when two seconds were added back onto the clock and Brown given one last chance.

“I was scared out of mind the last few minutes of the game,” Miller said. “Brown was down by one, and that made me nervous.”

But the Bears could do nothing with Harvard’s defense swarming as the crowd rose to its feet in support of the Crimson in its final home game of the season. The game also marked the end of Miller and co-captain Liz Anderson’s careers in Blodgett and the first time the pair had been on a team that beat Brown in three years.

“The last time we beat Brown was the first time we played them my freshman year,” Miller said.  “There couldn’t be a better end.”

The Crimson was down 1-0 early in the first but quickly rebounded to snatch back the momentum and a 2-1 lead at the half.

“The big change from yesterday was the execution,” Russell said.  “We scored five of our six goals on six-on-fives. Our defense was the same, [but] our offense utilized their opportunities.”

Sophomore Sarah Kennifer and junior Tina Codini each scored two goals. Kennifer was able to convert on two 6-on-5 opportunities while sophomore Arin Keyser assisted each of these goals. Codini converted on two long-range perimeter shots.

“We’ve been practicing a lot of 6-on-5 for 20 to 30 minutes everyday,” Kennifer said.  “Arin assisted all my goals.  She was able to wrestle the balls away and pop them out for us to score.”

Harvard tweaked its game so that Brown, a team it frequently competes against and will see again, would be forced to deal with a new wrinkle in its approach.

“We know every players name on Brown and how they play,” Kennifer said. “We slightly changed things to throw them off.”

One month ago the Crimson lost to Brown 8-1. Harvard has worked hard and the fruits of its labor are now paying off.