MIT Women’s Club Water Polo competed at the CWPA Collegiate Club National Championships at Notre Dame and placed 7th, our team’s highest finish since 2005. Entering as the 11th seed, our first game was against the 6th seed, Michigan State. We won with a final score of 6-5 with goals by Soumya Kannan (2), Hayley Bergman (2), Alexandrine Obrand, and Clare Wieland and 7 saves by goalkeeper Vivian Zhang. In our second game, we took a loss to the eventual champions, the University of Florida. The score was 11-3 with MIT goals by Shannon Moreno (2) and Kannan and 8 saves by Zhang. Our third game was a close loss to the University of Washington with a final score of 5-3. MIT goals were by Abby Smith, Obrand, and Kannan and 11 saves by Zhang. Our final game was against hometown rival Boston College with an MIT victory of 14-8. MIT goals were scored by Moreno (6), Bergman (5), Smith, Kannan, and Obrand and Zhang made 8 saves. Our victory earned us a 7th place finish!
Outside of the pool, the team bonded over meals at the Midwest chain Portillo’s and a BBQ and bonfire at a local player’s lake house along with some kayaking on the lake. We also took some time to tour the Notre Dame campus, with Touchdown Jesus as the most memorable stop. A quick stop at the Chicago Bean and for some deep dish pizza finished out the trip.