After a rough-and-tumble spring break, the women's water polo team (9-12) stormed the competition this past weekend, taking home two come-from-behind wins and two easy wins against CWPA North opponents.
On Thursday night, the Bears downed Connecticut College 16-8 with a balanced attack, scoring four goals each quarter. With an 8-3 lead at the half, the Bears shut out the Camels in the third and coasted on the scoring of Sarah Glick '10 and captain Alexis Blaxberg '08. Blaxberg put up five goals, many coming from Glick's seven assists, and the senior added two assists and two steals as well. Glick scored four and stole three along with her plethora of assists.
"I knew we were going to play well; the California trip definitely helped us out," said Head Coach Felix Mercado.
Herald Senior Staff Writer Joanna Wohlmuth '11 scored three goals and Emily Schwartz '08 added two goals. Stephanie Laing '10 made three saves in net.
Bruno had to fight a little harder for its 10-9 win against Maryland to open up its Saturday competition.
They were down 4-2 at halftime, and trailed by as much as three in the third quarter before turning the game around. Having lost 10-8 and 12-7 to the Terps earlier in the season, the Bears came out hungry for revenge in the fourth. Schwartz made two key steals that lead to two Brown goals to anchor the comeback.
Presant finished with five goals and four steals and Laing posted five saves. Glick and Wohlmuth had two goals apiece while Katherine Stanton '11 knocked one in as well.
"The games against Maryland and Bucknell were very physical," Presant said.
In their second game of the day, the Bears pulled off another comeback, this time against No. 20 Bucknell, winning 9-8 in double overtime.
Tied 3-3 at the half, Bruno went down 7-3 after the third quarter and down a player as well as Glick fouled out. Presant took over, scoring all four of her goals in the fourth, and despite also losing Wohlmuth to a foul out, Brown outscored the Bison 5-1 to send the game into overtime.
Neither team could muster a goal in the first overtime, and then Brown was dealt another blow when Presant fouled out late in the second overtime, leaving Brown with no one on the bench for substitutions.
"I tried not to freak out about it when our players kept fouling out, knowing we didn't have any subs," Mercado said. "I just believed the six girls in the water were going to do everything in their power to win the game. ... Everyone on this team believes in each other."
With 17 seconds left, Mercado called a timeout to set up the last shot for Blaxberg. She got one off that the Bucknell goalie tipped out of bounds, setting up a "corner kick" for Brown. When the ball was thrown in, "one of the girls from Bucknell grabbed one of our girls and pulled her into the water," Mercado said. He said this play gave Brown a penalty shot with no time left in the second overtime. "It was the right call."
Blaxberg converted the penalty shot to extend Brown's win streak to three games.
"The win against Bucknell was just awesome," Presant said. "To have your senior scoring the winning goal is just awesome."
Laing stayed strong, making eight saves during their game and a half of play, and Blaxberg finished with three goals while Rory Stanton '09 and Wohlmuth chipped in one each.
The final win of the weekend came against George Washington on Sunday. Presant lead the way once again with five goals, outscoring the entire Colonial team, while chipping in two assists. Glick's three goals also helped pace Bruno to an 11-4 victory.
The Bears took control early with a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, and the defense took care of the rest. Stanton registered five steals as well as a goal and an assist, while Wohlmuth drew four ejections along with a goal.
For her efforts, Presant was named CWPA North Player of the Week for the second straight week. She totaled 14 goals to add to her team-leading season total of 62.
"It was a lot of fun, we really enjoyed winning," Presant said. "It made all of us proud to be Brown water polo players."
The Bears are now in second in the CWPA North with three games left before playoffs. They are back in action for their first "home" meet at Wheaton College on Saturday, taking on the current league leader, No. 14 Hartwick, at 7 p.m. Brown lost to Hartwick earlier in March, 20-8.
It will be a homecoming of sorts for Mercado, as he coached under Hartwick Head Coach Alan Huckins last year before coming to Brown, but that will not be an issue for him on Saturday.
"Our opponent doesn't even matter; we're just going to go out there and hustle for four quarters," Mercado said. "At this point (our coaching relationship is) kind of irrelevant. I hope a lot of people come and watch. When we played at Hartwick, I saw what (having 300 fans) did for them."
