Aquamen Gain National Recognition at Ivies

The Harvard men's water polo team is looking for some dark glasses.

It will be tough for the Crimson to hide from the limelight now, after receiving national recognition following its 9-7 overtime victory over Army (ranked 20th in the nation) in the Ivy League tournament last weekend in Providence. Harvard broke into the NCAA top-20 rankings for the first time in five seasons when it was ranked 19th in yesterday's poll.

"The Army game was a big game for us," Co-Captain Eric Bentley said. "It shows how much progress we're making this year." Harvard lost to Army, 11-5, earlier in the year at its first tournament in Annapolis, Md.

Harvard saw its first-half lead, 3-0, whittled away by Army, but thanks to tremendous goaltending by senior Greg Beber, was tied 6-6 with one minute remaining. Thirty seconds later, Bentley set up in the hole and fired a back-hand flip into goal for the apparent game-winner.

However, following a timeout, the Cadets notched the tying goal with just 10 seconds remaining in the game. The national spotlight would have to wait for another six minutes of overtime.

The Crimson dominated the two overtime periods, notching a pair of Peter Richards power-play goals to win, 9-7. Beber's four saves in overtime kept Army off the scoreboard and lifted Harvard into the national rankings.

"Greg Beber was outstanding in the six minutes of overtime," senior Joe Kaufman said. "He deserves the biggest praise. He kept us in the game."

In other action in the tournament this weekend, the Crimson (11-4) beat Dartmouth, 16-12, and Princeton, 7-5, while losing to top-20 squads Air Force, 9-7, and Brown, 11-7.

The Crimson reserves Knocked off a weak Big Green squad on Saturday behind the four goals each of holesetter Andy Freed and Tom Killian. Junior Scott Frewing won his third game in goal this year, notching eight saves.

Frewing played goal again for the Crimson in the Princeton game, entering at intermission with Harvard up, 5-1. Richards, Freed, Kaufman, Steve Kan and Bruce Burkley scored goals to garner the first-half lead.

However, Harvard was forced to hold off a furious second-half rally by Princeton to win its 10th game of the year. Kan's second goal of the game and junior Nick Branca's man-advantage goal clinched the victory for the Crimson.

Richards' three goals weren't enough as Harvard lost to a tough Air Force squad on Saturday, 9-7. Trailing 5-2 at halftime, the Crimson came back with goals by Richards, Branca and Todd Forman to tie the game at 5-5 in the third period. However, Air Force was able to slip four quick goals past Beber, who had 13 saves in the game, to win.

Harvard was especially hurt by its inability to compete in man-advantage situations. The Crimson only tallied once in six power plays, and its defense allowed Air Force to score on two of three power plays.

"We still need to work on our 6-on-5 defense and offense," Bentley said. "We just didn't convert this weekend. There is still a lack of awareness of the other team's defense and offense. We're not seeing the whole scheme of things."

Fresh off its upset of Army, the Crimson faltered to Brown, falling behind 7-3 at intermission. Despite a brief third quarter comeback led by Forman's two goals, the aquamen were unable to close the 8-5 deficit and eventually lost, 11-7.

Beber's seven saves and four steals were not enough to beat the Bruins, who converted six power-play opportunities in the game.

"We were able to stick with Brown in the first half," Bentley said, "but we were drained from the Army game. We played really well, which was a good indicator that we can beat Brown when we can key on them."

Richards led the team with seven goals, Freed and Forman tallied six times, and Killian and freshman Mike Johnson each scored four goals. Beber racked up 37 saves in the three-and-a-half games he played in the tournament.

"Beber had an incredible tournament," Bentley said. "He saved a lot of people who had been burned by their men."

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard should get its next opportunity to beat Brown this weekend when it hosts a New England Tournament at Blodgett Pool.