Sophomore Monica Zdrojewski, shown here in earlier action, followed up Wednesday’s game-winning goal with a two-goal, five-steal performance against Hartwick on Saturday night. Though Harvard played the Hawks close, it couldn’t catch up to the division winners, dropping the contest, 11-8. The Crimson then fell to Brown yesterday, jeapordizing its playoff chances.

After ending its string of losses against Brown on Wednesday with a 7-6 win, the Harvard women’s water polo team seemed ready to tackle a weekend of tough competition.

But the Crimson (12-12, 1-3 CWPA North) fell to both No. 11 Hartwick (24-4, 4-0) and Brown (19-13, 1-3) to end the regular season and jeopardize its shot at postseason play.

“It was tough,” freshman attack Aisha Price said. “But we know we can do better.”

BROWN 14, HARVARD 10

Yesterday afternoon, Wheaton College played host to a showdown between the Crimson and the Bears.

Plagued by defensive woes, Harvard could not force a repeat of Wednesday’s results.

“The team was fired up,” Crimson coach Erik Farrar said, “but that was our worst individual defensive game of the year.”

The first half of play saw Harvard get off to a shaky start. The team struggled to find the back of the net as many shots hit the posts, while Brown took advantage of several ejections to get ahead early.

“That put a lot of pressure on us,” Farrar said. “It got us in a very deep hole that we ultimately couldn’t climb out of.”

Although the team couldn’t salvage the second half of play to capture a victory, several players put on a strong showing.

“There were a couple of great individual efforts,” Farrar noted. “Aisha had her best game of the year—she had four goals.”

Sophomore two-meter defenseman Ita Barton-Kettleborough also buried three markers in the squad’s loss, while sophomore Devan Kennifer added two.

Sophomore Shannon Purcell scored once in the losing effort.

HARTWICK 11, HARVARD 8

Saturday’s Senior Night at Blodgett Pool had Harvard pumped up, and when freshman center Elise Molnar put one between the pipes after just over a minute of play, it appeared that the Crimson was on the path to victory.