Harvard’s defense held strong in the final quarter of the game, not allowing the Sagehens back into the game. Junior Victoria Frager led the defense with five steals, while Dukes had two.

“We knew that we could play better [than we did against Whittier],” Price said. “It’s really fun being out here in the sun and playing outside and seeing all our families out here during spring break. I think we let that get to us and it got in the way of what we’re really out here for which is to play water polo.”

WHITTIER 12, HARVARD 9

In a back-and-forth battle that saw multiple lead changes throughout the competition, the Crimson could not come out on top.

The first quarter saw the teams come out knotted at three goals apiece. A breakaway goal early in the second quarter gave the Poets (13-10, 1-0 SCIAC) a one point advantage going into the second half of play.

Harvard saw scoring from across the roster. Senior co-captain Shayna Price registered her third hat trick of the season in the loss, while freshman Lexi Del Toro and Andersen added two goals each.

Coming back from the half, both teams matched each other’s goals in the third quarter. The deciding factor in the game came in the fourth quarter, as Whittier was able to get two goals into the Crimson’s net, while Harvard’s scoring was silent.

“We had trouble in our first game,” Price said. “We didn’t come out to play and it showed in the loss but after that game we really picked it up and came out to play the rest of those three games.”

—Staff writer Ariel Smolik-Valles can be reached at asmolikvalles@college.harvard.edu.