Women's water polo rides their (sea) horses to the finals

Author: Jeff Patterson

The women's water polo team can be added to the list - it is yet another Middlebury team that has been overwhelmed by overtime. The Panthers had a 5-4 lead over Dartmouth in the final seconds of regulation in the New England Division Championship game, but in the end, the Big Green prevailed.

"They scored with two seconds left, which sent us into overtime," said Tri-Captain Whitney Thomas '07. "That was tough. We had a lot of shots. There were a lot of missed shots on both sides."

In the extra session, Dartmouth opened up the game and scored two goals, winning by a tennis-like score 7-5.

"We've had a lot of experience playing Dartmouth, and we know that they are capable of turning a game around in seconds," wrote Tri-Captain Lisa Niswander '07 in an e-mail. Dartmouth certainly did that as its players threw darts from just outside Lee Corbett's goal mouth.

Niswander was on the mark in the championship, as she scored three of the team's five goals, including the game's first goal.

"Going into the game we knew it was going to be low scoring," wrote Niswander. "To get the first goal on the board was a huge morale booster."

Her classmate Thomas scored the Panthers' other two.

"Lisa had a great game," said Thomas. "It was a real standout performance by her."

Obviously in the deep-end of the pool, water polo players cannot stand out of the water, but need to tread water or swim, just to stay buoyant. After an exhausting four games in two-days, the Middlebury players certainly got their exercise.

"It was a very tiring game," said Thomas. "[Our effort] showed a lot about our team."

"We were exhausted," wrote Niswander. "I think the adrenaline kicked in though, everyone played as if it were her first shift."

Prior to the Dartmouth defeat, the Panthers topped Wesleyan and Yale on Saturday and Williams on Sunday.

"These wins moved us to the front of the bracket and it set us up for the championship round," said Thomas. "People who hadn't scored all season scored in some of the other games. Because it was such a tiring weekend, it was really vital to have so many subs available as opposed to Dartmouth who has their starting players and only one or two subs."

The loss to Dartmouth officially ends the Panthers successful 2006-2007 campaign in which they went 9-3. Dartmouth, 12-0 and the winner of the New England Division, will advance deeper into postseason play.

Still, there is a lot for Middlebury to take from this weekend. "Three of the four games were the toughest three we've had all season," said Thomas. "All three together in one weekend was a delight."

With the wonderful weather outside, playing in the pool was a lot easier for the competitors.

"It's an entirely different game when there is nice weather, said Thomas. "You want to be in the pool and splash around."