Coming off a clean sweep at the Bison Invitational on Feb. 10-11, the tables swiftly turned on women’s water polo at the Princeton Invitational on Feb. 17-18. Despite strong efforts, the invitational ended with a 0-3 record for the Bison after dropping games against Marist, Wagner, and the Chinese National Team. Their official season record moves to 6-4, which does not include the exhibition game against the Chinese National Team.

The Bison began the Invitational by competing against Marist. The Red Foxes dominated the first half, entering the second half with a 5-1 lead. The Bison managed to narrow the gap to one point with a three-goal streak, but were quickly faced by a revived Marist defense, who were ultimately able to shut down the Orange and Blue offense and seal the game to a 7-6 win.

Nina Benson ’20, Kali Hyham ’21, and Emily Konishi ’19 all tallied multiple points. Konishi’s two assists bumped her to the eighth most points in program history with 115.

The Bison faced Wagner next, whose defense would keep the Bison off the scoreboard for the entire second half. The Seahawks gained an early 4-1 lead, but were promptly met with three unanswered goals from the Orange and Blue. Another three goals for Wagner and one for the Bison left the score at 7-5 at halftime. The second half saw the Bison defense yield four goals, and the Orange and Blue dropped the contest by a final score of 11-5.

The team’s final contest of the weekend saw them battling the Chinese National Team in an exhibition match. Despite an already grueling weekend, the Bison put up a commendable fight against the seventh-place Olympic finishers. China made its blow in the third quarter by adding four goals to their 5-3 lead. Another goal in the fourth period ultimately placed China on top with a 10-7 win. Goalkeeper Manuela Herrera ’18 notched eight saves in the effort and Hyham led the offense with two goals.

While this weekend was a far cry from the desired results, the Bison have proved they are capable of holding their own against tough competitors. Benson cited the tournament as an important learning experience for the team.

“Playing an international team was an interesting experience because we got to see how differently teams outside the U.S. play,” Benson said. “As a team we look really good this year, but we need to work on confidence when shooting the ball.”

The Orange and Blue will dive back into competition at the Wolverine Invitational at the University of Michigan on March 3-4.