In their last regular season game, the women’s water polo team (13-11, 3-3 Collegiate Water Polo Association) fell 15-7 to No. 11 Harvard (24-3, 5-1 CWPA) in a home match this past Saturday. Brown’s defensive pressure kept the game within reach for Bruno throughout the first two quarters, but the Bears were outplayed in the latter half, dashing any hopes of a comeback against the Crimson.
“We had practiced a lot ... especially for Harvard, so I feel we had a little bit more confidence going in,” said utility player Samantha Kim ’28. Throughout the game’s back-and-forth play, “we still kept the energy and the hype and the effort going,” she added.
Saturday’s match was also Bruno’s senior night, during which the team honored its graduating class: attacker Margot Gibbons ’26, attacker Hana Homma ’26, attacker Alexandra Love ’26, center Ella Palmer ’26, defender Madeleine Poissonnier ’26 and attacker Sabrina Shipley ’26. With raucous cheering and smiles radiating from the bench, Bruno’s high spirits were a victory in and of themselves.
“The fact that the seniors have stayed so strong and also have held leadership roles on this team — it means a lot to us,” Kim said. “We wanted to celebrate the fact that they’re still here and that they’ve made such a big contribution to this team.”
Early in the match, Bruno found ways to keep the Crimson’s scrappy aggression at bay. Although the Bears were missing their primary goalkeeper, they showed off an ironclad defensive front. Backup Skye Andros ’28 — who stepped up to the goal on a week’s notice on behalf of Bruno’s injured goalie — had seven blocks throughout the game and proved instrumental for keeping the Bears in the fight.
“Skye stepped in and played incredibly well, making some amazing saves,” Palmer wrote. “We are so grateful to have a teammate like her who is willing to step up, and we are all so proud of her.”
Over the course of the match, Brown capitalized on man-up opportunities to slow Harvard’s snowballing offensive stride, drawing penalties on Harvard to create multiple 6-on-5 opportunities for the Bears.
Love kick-started the match with two goals during the first quarter, paving the way for Bruno’s early offensive strides. Kim and Poissonier would each add a goal to keep Bruno alive going into halftime at 7-4.
“Going into the game, our energy was unmatched,” Palmer wrote in an email to The Herald. “We were playing for each other, and that sense of togetherness really carried through.”
In the second half, the Crimson widened their lead significantly to make a Bruno comeback insurmountable. Harvard’s offense upped their urgency as they assertively kept the ball on Bruno’s side of the half-distance line. The team found success in their long-distance shots, which caught the Bears off guard and left them with a 10-5 score at the third quarter’s close.
The Crimson continued to stretch their winning margin, scoring five goals in the contest’s final period and pushing the final tally to 15-7.
Although the team faced defeat, the atmosphere on Brown’s bench remained spirited. “We were playing for our seniors,” Kim said. “We didn’t care at the end of the day what the scoreboard looked like, because it really did feel like we played our best in that game. And honestly, we were having our fun.”
“Despite the loss, I couldn’t have been more proud to share that moment with my fellow seniors and teammates,” Palmer wrote.
Over the course of the spring season, the team had its fair share of ups and downs. Their defeat by Harvard marked Bruno’s fifth consecutive loss of the season. But those losses were preceded by four straight victories. After the Bears’ rollercoaster campaign, the team ended the season tied at No. 23 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s 2026 Women’s Varsity Top 25.
The Bears will be looking to earn a fresh start this weekend as they head to the University of Michigan for the CWPA Tournament. The Bears — seeded at No. 4 for the tournament — will take on No. 5-seeded Bucknell (12-10, 2-4 CWPA) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
If Brown advances, they will play on Saturday for a chance at a first-place game on Sunday. The CWPA Champion will secure a berth to the 2026 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship at UCSD from April 24 to 26.
Chiupong Huang is a senior staff writer covering sports.
