Freshman driver Kathryn Bilder had a breakout game against Connecticut College, tallying a season-high eight goals. The win helped vault Harvard to a third-place finish at the Northern Division Championships.

The Harvard women’s water polo team competed in the Northern Division Championships this weekend with the hopes of locking down a ticket to next weekend’s Eastern Championships.

To receive an automatic bid, the Crimson would have had to finish in the top two. The team’s third place finish, however, was not enough to guarantee a spot.

Harvard will have its fate decided at noon today when the selection committee meets to hand out the two at-large bids.

“I think we have a good shot,” head coach Erik Farrar said. “But, you never really know what a seeding committee is going to do.”

HARVARD 9, QUEENS 0

After falling to Brown in the morning’s semifinal, Harvard rallied to take the afternoon match against Queens (6-15).

The shutout was the Crimson’s first of the year and a large testament to Harvard’s tight defense and sophomore goalie Nicola Perlman, who is also a Crimson editor.

The high-pressure defense stifled the Knights by denying them outside shot opportunities and passes into the hole-set.

“Nicola had a really great game, and we just really worked hard on keeping the pressure on the perimeter,” junior co-captain Lauren Snyder said.

BROWN 10, HARVARD 1

Facing Brown for the fourth time this season, Harvard still had no answers for the Bears’ attack.

One of the greatest obstacles that Brown has posed this season for the Crimson has been its quick transition game. Yesterday, the Bears exploited the speed mismatch yet again on its way to earning an automatic bid to the Northern Championships.

Two-meter Devon MacLaughlin played a strong game and led the team with three ejections.

The resulting 6-on-5 situations should have given Harvard a greater opportunity to score. Instead, Brown scored counter-attack goals on four Crimson advantages.

“You are not going to score on all your 6-on-5s, but in an extreme case, that’s an eight-goal difference,” Farrar said.

HARTWICK 24, HARVARD 7

In its second match on Saturday, Harvard took on Hartwick for the third time this season. And for the third time this season, the Hawks steamrolled through the Crimson.

No. 12 Hartwick, which would go on to the win the tournament in convincing fashion yesterday, took a commanding 8-0 lead after the first quarter and extended the margin to 16-0 by halftime.

In the third frame, Harvard got itself together and went on a 5-1 run. The surge came far too late, however, as the Hawks had built an insurmountable lead in the first half.

HARVARD 17,

CONNECTICUT COLLEGE 9

In its first game of the tournament, Harvard triumphed over host Connecticut College.

When the two teams last met on April 5, the Crimson had little trouble defeating the Camels, 16-4. However, when the opening whistle blew on Saturday, the Camels made it clear that they would not give in so easily this time around.

Connecticut College jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Harvard finally ended the run with a goal late in the first quarter.

From then on, the Crimson dominated the Camels with tight defensive pressure and swift transitional scoring.

By the break Harvard, had built up a 7-4 advantage that it never relinquished.

”When we woke up, things started happening,” Farrar said.

Although the win was a whole team effort, the talents of the freshmen class in particular were on display.

Rookie Kathryn Bilder led the way with a season-high eight goals. Classmates Kelly Peeler (three goals), Roxanne Pinto (two goals), and Bergquist (one goal) rounded out the freshmen’s scoring.

—Staff writer Julia R. Senior can be reached at jrsenior@fas.harvard.edu.