For the second consecutive year, the Harvard women’s water polo team brought home a fifth-place finish at the Eastern Championships in Bloomington, Ind.

Last year, the Crimson, which entered Easterns as the No. 10 seed, pulled off a string of upsets, jumping up five spots by the tournament’s close—a performance that allowed Harvard to sneak into the final national top-20 poll of the 2004 season.

This year, the field was cut from 12 to eight and the Crimson gained entrance as one of the two wild cards, since it failed to place first or second at Northerns.

“The competition in every game was much better this season, because last year everyone had at least one easier game,” junior two-meter Molly Mehaffey said.

The Crimson held its ground in this year’s championships, entering the tournament seeded fifth and taking two of three contests to maintain that position.

1ST PLACE: MICHIGAN 8, INDIANA 7

The title bout saw the 2002 and 2003 winners (Michigan and Indiana, respectively) square off in a back-and-forth match with an NCAA tournament berth on the line.

The Wolverines held two-goal leads on three separate occasions in the first half, including a 5-3 advantage at the intermission.

But the Hoosiers found the net twice in the third to bring the score even at five heading into the final quarter.

Michigan jumped back out to a two-goal lead, 7-5, early in the fourth, but Indiana responded with two of its own to pull even.

With 1:48 left, the Wolverines capitalized on a 6-on-5 opportunity to go up 8-7 and take the title for the first time in three years.

3RD PLACE: HARTWICK 11, PRINCETON 4

The Hawks took a tight contest at the half and blew it wide open with a six-goal third quarter to lock up third place in Easterns.

Hartwick led 4-1 after one period of play, but the Tigers chipped away with two goals in the second to get within one, 4-3. But just one quarter later, Princeton found itself down seven as it lost its fifth consecutive final-round game.

5TH PLACE: HARVARD 6, BROWN 5