The women’s water polo team finished fourth in the 12-team Southern Conference Championships at Villanova last weekend, losing the consolation game to Indiana 16-7. The fourth-place finish secured the Colonials an automatic berth to next weekend’s Eastern Championships.

GW will join the other top five finishers in Princeton for Easterns next weekend; first-place finisher Michigan, second-place Princeton, third-place Indiana and fifth-place Bucknell. Villanova received the Southern conference’s at-large bid. The other six teams in the Eastern Championships will be determined from the Northern Conference. The winner of Easterns receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Head Coach Scott Reed said after being seeded fourth he was expecting a fourth place finish, and he is confident about his chances next weekend.

“We definitely have some high hopes,” Reed said of his team’s chances at Easterns. “There is no doubt we can get it done.”

The Colonials came out solid but lost Sunday’s consolation game to Indiana 16-7. With the score tied 3-3 after the first quarter, GW “gradually started losing it,” Reed said, and the defense was unable to recover. Indiana outscored the Colonials 6-2 in the last quarter. Reed said his team must step up its defense to put in a good showing at Easterns.

“Our defense is something we pride ourselves on, and we were very successful at it for three quarters of the season,” Reed said. “We beat teams with our defense and we have to get back to that.”

Earlier Sunday the Colonials lost a hard-fought game to second-place finisher Princeton. Reed said the competition was “very difficult” compared to his team’s two earlier games GW won against Bucknell and Grove City.

“We weren’t ready to play and it showed,” Reed said of the 16-8 loss. “They pushed us around and took full advantage of it.”

GW had an easier time against Grove City College Saturday, grabbing a 16-4 win in the second round game. Reed said the team was not as experienced as the Colonials were, and the game was not a challenge.

“We didn’t have a problem,” Reed said. “We went through the motions and got the job done.”

Two Colonials, junior Michelle Cuozzo and freshman Taraneh Bastani, scored their first collegiate goals in what Reed called the highlight of the game.

Friday the Colonials beat rival Bucknell in a close first-round match. The game was score-for-score Reed said, with GW edging out the 12-11 win.
Reed said his team is far ahead of where it was at this time last year and feels confident that his team can be successful at Easterns, provided the defense steps up.

“Everyone is going to have to step up,” he said. “It will be very important for our goalie to have a great game. That gets the defense moving and going.”