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She's Tough Under Fire

Water Polo's Stacey Moran

"She's a star," says Tri-Captain Leslie Barbi. "When she's driving, there'll be two or three defenders pouncing on her. Usually you want to get a kickout. Stacey usually gets the goal."

Moran is also one of the better defenders on the team, and a contributor to the Harvard pressure defense.

"I enjoy defense a lot," Moran says. "In every other sport I've played, that was probably my strong point."

But what is this polo player's secret to her success? Her mental approach to the game would be the correct answer.

"Some days when you're in the mood to play, you play great, and other days, when you don't feel like getting wet, or getting in there, you're not as aware," Moran says.

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Moran does not swim on the collegiate level any more. Her only sport is water polo.

"I think it's an ideal sport for me because I love ball sports, I love team sports, and I love swimming, so it's great," Moran says. "I've played a lot of sports, and this is my favorite one."

Moran and the rest of the Crimson are looking forward to their greatest challenge to date--the Eastern Tournament. "I'm really excited. We should do well," Moran says. "Slippery Rock is going to be really good. They'll be our hardest team to beat, but there are going to be a couple of teams that are pretty comparable to us."

Coming into the weekend, Moran is questionable to start for the Crimson. Last weekend in the MIT tournament, she tore a ligament in her right hand, her shooting hand.

"I had it looked at by the trainers, so they're pretty sure it's not a fracture, which is good," Moran says. "Basically I have to get it whirlpooled and iced every day."

Moran will play, depending on whether the swelling goes down. And if it doesn't? She'll probably play anyway.

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