Brown's the Favorite in Water Polo Tourney

The Brown men's water polo team last lost to a New England team in 1975. They last lost to Harvard several seasons before that.

This year, Brown is the top-ranked team in the East, and their coach says they are an even better team now than they were last season when they finished seventh in the nation.

However, Harvard is cautiously optimistic that when the two teams meet for the first time this season Sunday afternoon, they may actually win.

Brown Head Coach Ed Reed concedes that "this is the strongest Harvard team ever." And although there is reason to believe that Harvard might just beat Brown this year, the Crimson faces an uphill battle.

Meet Sunday Afternoon

The first of several Brown-Harvard clashes takes place Sunday at 4:30 p.m. in Blodgett Pool, as part of the New England Invitational Water Polo Tournament. It will be the biggest game in a round-robin tourney that pits all the New England teams against each other. Harvard opens with MIT at 11:30 a.m. Saturday then meets Columbia at 6:15 p.m. and Yale at 9:15 p.m. Sunday they open with UMass at 10:30 a.m.

Harvard Coach Steve Pike, however, won't speculate about the big game with Brown. For the moment, he's more concerned with the four other teams which the Crimson will fare before it meets Brown.

"I think we can't take the first four games too lightly. We haven't seen three of the teams (Yale, Columbia, UMass). If we don't take them seriously our starters will have to play all four quarters. And by the fifth game they'll be too tired."

The major problem facing the Crimson this weekend will be its depth, which has been suspect all season. Brown, enjoying the fruits of its greatest recruiting year, has a stacked bench, even despite heavy graduation losses and an injury to 6'5" David Todhunter, who will be unable to play for several more weeks.

For the Harvard players, particularly senior Co-Captains Dave Fasi and Steve Munstones, a victory over Brown this season would represent sweet revenge. "The seniors on this team have lost to Brown 15-18 times in our undergraduate careers," Munstones said. "But we have the talent this year, we just have to show the desire," Fasi added. "Our starting seven is just as good as theirs. The game will be won or lost in the third and fourth quarters."