The Bison women’s water polo team had an outstanding performance during an away tournament on April 6-7. The team went 3-0 against Brown University, George Washington University, and host team No. 14 Harvard University. The victories bumped the team’s overall record to 22-9.

The Bison started the weekend off strong with an 8-4 win against Brown University. Their defense made a statement and limited the Bears to a .190 shooting percentage in the game. Brown took the initial lead early in the game, but Nina Benson ’20 was quick to respond with a goal off an assist from Paige Furano ’22 to tie the score at one. The Orange and Blue kept up their push through the first period, scoring two more goals and bringing the score to 3-2. Brown did not give up, though, and found the back of the cage during the second period, only to be answered by a goal from Ally Furano ’21 to keep the Bison on top with a 4-3 lead at halftime. Benson, A. Furano, and Kali Hyham ’21 tacked on goals after halftime. Their team effort and impressive defense ensured them a win against the Bears.

Striving to maintain their winning streak, the team was presented with another opportunity to play nationally ranked Harvard, who beat the Bison by two the previous weekend.

The Bison got off to a quick start against the Crimson with goals from A. Furano and Hyham before Harvard responded with their first goal of the game. A scoreless second period left the Bison with a 4-1 lead at halftime. Hyham kept the momentum going for the Bison and brought the team to a 5-1 lead at the beginning of the second half. Harvard came back with three straight goals in short succession to make it a tight game at 5-4, in favor of the Orange and Blue. Harvard then found the back of the cage two more times entering the fourth period, giving them the lead for the first time in the game at 6-5.

The Furano sisters came together and tied things up with a goal from A. Furano on an assist from P. Furano in the fourth period. Hyham, P. Furano and Benson all scored to secure the win for the Bison against the Crimson. Georgia Lewis ’22 had seven saves in the cage.

The Bison returned to the pool on April 7 for their final matchup of the weekend against George Washington University. They snatched a perfect sweep for the weekend with an 11-7 win against the Colonials. Sarah Mooney ’19 had a personal career day and huge performance for her team with three goals and four assists during the contest. She started the Bison off with a goal to take the 1-0 lead early in the game with an assist from Benson. Benson herself had the next goal on a powerplay caused by an ejection drawn by Hyham. The Colonials began to battle back with two goals and trimmed the Bison’s lead to 3-2 after the first period. The Bison stepped up their defensive game in the second period and entered halftime with a 5-2 lead.

The Orange and Blue tacked on three more goals to keep control of the game. Mooney and A. Furano were both contributors on the scoreboard in the second half. Lewis also tied her career high with 13 saves in goal, while Larissa Hodzic ’22 drew four ejections to help the Bison secure their third win of the weekend.

“We are really excited about the wins this weekend because they were big conference games and they hopefully will give us good momentum going into this weekend’s games,” A. Furano said.

The team will return to the pool for games against Saint Francis (PA), Princeton, and Michigan at home on April 13-14.