The strong play of senior goaltender Lydia Gardner was one of the main reasons for the Crimson’s postseason success.

After an up-and-down beginning of the season, the Harvard women’s water polo team turned it on down the stretch.

Shaking off three early losses to rival Brown, the Crimson beat the Bears, 6-5, on April 23 at the Northern Championships, clinching a berth at the year-end Eastern Championships.

At Easterns, Harvard battled against higher-ranked seeds Indiana and Maryland before losing in the fourth quarter, 7-6 and 4-3, respectively, to finish No. 8 among the eight schools in the tournament.

“Those were the toughest eight teams I have ever seen at the Eastern Championships,” co-captain driver Sarah Kennifer said.

Under second-year coach Erik Farrar, the Crimson went 11-11 during the regular season, including a 3-5 mark in the CWPA Northern Division.

In the Northern Championships, Harvard split its first two games, beating Utica, 14-4, and losing to Hartiwck, 12-2, before beating Brown. In the championship game, the Crimson again fell to the Hawks, 10-4.

Little came easy for Harvard this season against quality competition, as it was not only facing some vastly improved teams, but was also returning few of its starters from last year.

“Definitely a weakness for us was how young we were,” co-captain driver Arin Keyser said.

Luckily, one of the returning players was senior goaltender Lydia Gardner, a four-year starter.

“When other teams look at our team, they see our goaltending as a real strength,” Keyser said.

Senior 2M-O Molly Mehaffey, who is also a Crimson editor, was fully healthy for the first time in several years, and her presence in front of the opposing net was a boost for the Crimson. Captains Keyser and Kennifer also played exceptionally well throughout the year.

Further helping Harvard’s cause was the emergence of sophomore 2M-D Lauren Snyder. After playing sparingly last year, Snyder played well on both ends of the pool. She was named a captain for next year along with sophomore driver Vivian Liao.

The team took a training trip to Puerto Rico over intersession. Once the regular season started, the Crimson played most of its games on the road, often against ranked opponents.

While there were defeats, Harvard grew from those experiences to play better as the season went on and to prepare for next year.

“We had a great year,” Keyser said. “Everyone got along well, and I think the team is in a good position to do well in the future.”

—Staff writer Ted Kirby can be reached at tjkirby@fas.harvard.edu.