Water Polo Squad Nabs Third Place

While most of Harvard's teams frolicked in the wilds of New Jersey, the Crimson waterpolo squad was busy finishing third in a four-way tournament in the IAB.

Although the tourney was heavily represented with Massachusetts teams, the laurels went to an aggressive squad up from Yale.

Harvard ended up sandwiched between UMass and MIT.

In the first round games, UMass soundly drenched MIT and Yale defeated Harvard, 16-10. The Crimson outscored the Elis in both the second and fourth quarters, but its valiant come-from-behind efforts were short of sinking the strong New Haven squad.

The Harvard-MIT game was a thriller. Crimson player-coach Wes Raffel, the Bill Russell of water polo, had badly injured a finger on his throwing hand during the first game and was sidelined.

At the end of the half, the score was locked 1-1, with senior Tom Wolfe authoring the lone Harvard point. In the third quarter the Engineers went ahead, 2-1 while Harvard failed to connect on a penalty shot.

The last quarter was a wild affair, with the ball changing hands faster than you can say "computer." Raffel nosedived into the action and tied the game, 2-2. MIT went ahead once more, Raffel scored again, but then the Engineers tallied two goals.

Three Harvard shots failed to connect and with one minute on the clock it looked like the home team had been submarined. In a stupendous burst of energy, the Crimson waterballers tied the game. Both points were scored by the injured Raffel: the first came on a penalty shot and the tying goal resulted from a long pass by sophomore goalie Stuart Miller, who played an outstanding game, which Raffel lobbed into the net.

At the end of the regulation time, the score stood at 5-5, and the match proceeded into two overtime quarters. Each team notched a goal while the opponent was one man down. Freshman Bob Maloney scored a pop shot to move the Crimson ahead 7-6. The Engineers then retaliated and tied the game, 7-7, in what looked to be a never-ending chain reaction.

With the second overtime quarter rapidly approaching, Raffel scored on a penalty shot, propelling the Crimson ahead for good. A befuddled and exhausted MIT accidentally knocked the ball into their own net, thereby scoring for Harvard.

Ex Post Facto?

"We played well as a team in the second game, and if we continue to do so we'll do very well at New Englands in two weeks," Raffel said.

If the Crimson-MIT contest of last weekend is indicative, the upcoming games will keep the crowds mesmerized and on the edge of their seats.