Aquadudes Make Waves, 9-4

The Harvard men's water polo team is ready for Broadway.

The Crimson gave a bravado performance in front of an enthusiastic and boisterous crowd of 125 fans at Blodgett Pool last night, stealing the spotlight from the University of Massachusetts Minutemen, 9-4.

Goalie Greg Beber once again played the starring role, and with a strong supporting defensive cast featuring Bruce Burkley and freshman Todd Forman, limited UMass to just four goals on 11 shots.

"[UMass] has a big hole-setter whom they like to go to," Harvard Coach Chris Hafferty said. "We worked on our hole 'D' a lot in practice and we got a lot of steals tonight."

The Crimson (6-2) started poorly on the attack, exhibiting little in the form of a set offense in the first quarter, but sharp shooting by freshman Mike Johnson and sophomore John Marshall helped stake Harvard to a 5-1 halftime lead.

"UMass knows it has to go through us to get to the New England championships, so both teams were up for this game," Hafferty said. "That probably explains why both teams were tentative early."

Marshall's fifth goal of the year broke a scoreless spell halfway through the first quarter. His outside shot from about 10 meters slipped through the entire UMass defense to put the Crimson up, 1-0.

Just 50 seconds before the end of the quarter, however, Marshall's deflection back towards Beber was short and UMass senior Eric Bebchick capitalized on the miscue, picking off the loose ball and tying the game with a flick shot.

Bebchick's goal sparked the Crimson's performance and for the rest of the show, Harvard's lines flowed as smoothly as the wave among the spectators at Blodgett.

Thirty seconds after UMass tied the score, sophomore John Griffin got open in the post and put the Crimson up for good, 2-1.

Mike Johnson's eighth and ninth goals of the year in the second quarter, both from outside 10 meters, extended Harvard's lead to 4-1. Marshall's power-play goal with just 42 seconds remaining in the half helped bring the crowd to its feet as the curtain closed at intermission.

"It was a swim meet in the first quarter," Hafferty said. "We were playing their game--they have more speed and endurance. I was happy that we were able to slow things down after that."

The Crimson continued performing according to director Hafferty's instructions in the second half, cruising to its sixth consecutive victory.

Freshman Peter Richards added to Harvard's lead with two minutes remaining in the third quarter when he scored as the shot clock when off. Richards later added a second goal, his team-leading 19th goal of the season.

Poor passing on the part of the Minutemen and Harvard's aggressive, sloughing defense kept the lead intact, but Brian McIver's tip-in goal pulled UMass to within three goals, 7-4, with just five minutes remaining.

The Minutemen did get one more chance to ruin the Crimson's performance, but Burkley and Beber shut down a UMass one-on-one break with three minutes left in the game to end the visitor's final threat of the night.