The Dartmouth Women's Water Polo team competed at Boston University this past weekend in the New England Championships. Entering the tournament with a 6-2 record and the number two seed meant that the Big Green had an uphill battle to the Championship Game. But the hard work and dedication that the women showed throughout the season paid off for them in Boston.

In the first game, Dartmouth was matched against an under-powered opponent, The Coast Guard Academy. Coast Guard entered the tournament with a 1-7 record and didn't really have a chance against the stronger Dartmouth team. The Big Green jumped out to an early 9-0 lead, made many substitutions during the game and wound up winning 19-4.

In their next game, the semi-final match with host BU, the story was a bit different. Still able to jump out to an early lead, Dartmouth looked great on offense as they led after the first frame 4-2 and again at half 7-3. But the Terriers from BU, with the large partisan crowd cheering them on, scored a couple of goals in the third period before the Green could add three of their own to head into the final frame ahead 10-5. Both Co-Captain Haley Carstensen '12 and Elizabeth Kamai '12 scored in the final frame to give the women a 12-6 win and a shot at the Championship game.

Dartmouth was expecting to play top seed Yale in the Championship game, but Williams College had different ideas as they defeated Yale 16-11 to advance. Knowing that a trip to Nationals was on the line, the polo women came out strong in the first quarter, scoring four unanswered goals. In the second period, Dartmouth was up 7-0 before Williams scored its first goal. At half, Dartmouth led 8-2. With great defense, Williams was shut out in the third period and Dartmouth headed into the final frame up 11-2. A total of six Dartmouth players scored goals in the game to bring the final score to 13-4 and earn Dartmouth its second consecutive trip to the National Championships.