Women’s Water Polo traveled to Providence, R.I., for the CWPA Championships starting last Friday night. As the fifth–seed, they opened up against the fourth-seeded Brown team.
For both teams, it all came down to defensive efforts, making it difficult for either team to score. Bella Schraa ʼ26 and Gwen Kallmeyer ʼ26 scored the first two goals of the game. Brown matched those two goals before the end of the first quarter. They then took the lead early in the second period. Olivia Hopper ʼ28 tied up the game as time wound down in the first half. Brown found the back of the net one more time as the teams entered the halftime break.
The Bison broke the tie after the half. Hopper scored two goals, but Brown responded with the tying goal. The score stood at 5-5 as the teams entered the final quarter.
Hopper’s hot hand scored once again to put the Orange and Blue up 6-5. It all came down to defense as the Bison held Brown from scoring the rest of the game. Tamara Torkos ʼ27 blocked two strong attempts from the Bears in the final 10 seconds.
After taking down Brown, the Bison faced the number one seed, Princeton, the following afternoon. The Tigers jumped to a 6-0 lead quickly in the first quarter. Princeton’s defense prevented the Bison from getting any easy look on goal. Schraa broke the scoring drought in the second quarter. Princeton responded with four more goals and established a 10-1 lead heading into the half.
Scoring continued for the Tigers in the third quarter as they tallied four more, making it harder for the Bison to catch up. The Orange and Blue’s efforts did not stop. Ashley Hopper ʼ28 scored once in the final quarter, as did Regan Coon ʼ27 and Rhys Beutler ʼ28. The game ended 17-4 in favor of Princeton.
In the final game of the weekend, the Bison faced third-seeded Michigan. The Wolverines put up four goals in the first period. Hayden Hedstrom ʼ28 scored the Bison’s first goal. O. Hopper scored her first goal in the second period, but Michigan put up two more to push the lead further. O. Hopper got hot in the third quarter and went on a 3-0 scoring run in under two minutes. With the score at 7-5, both teams’ defenses carried them the rest of the way in the third stanza.
In the final period of the game, the Bison got within one goal after O. Hopper scored once again. Michigan countered with a 5-0 run, widening the score gap. O. Hopper found the back of the net two more times before the game ended but was unable to cut the deficit further. Michigan came out on top with an 8-14 win.
This series of games marked the end of the Bison Women’s Water Polo season.
