Aquadudes Nab Fourth Place at Eastern Tourney

The Harvard men's water polo team answered a call to arms this weekend, battling Cadets, Midshipmen and Minutemen. But Coach Chris Hafferty's squad ran out of ammunition, finishing fourth in an Eastern League tournament at Blodgett Pool.

The University of Massachusetts upset the 18th-ranked Crimson, 9 8, yesterday in the consolation game to grab third place. The victory was the Minutemen's first over Harvard in three years.

"Harvard's taken off on us the past couple of years," UMass Coach Russ Yarworth said. "It's been on goal to beat them for a long time it's a great rivalry."

The Minutemen took their largest lead of the game, 6-3, four minutes into the third period when G.T. Ladd scored his second consecutive goal, but junior John Marshall's third of four goals in the game pulled the Crimson (1-2) to within one early in the fourth period. Harvard tied the game less than one minute later when sophomore Peter Richards, last year's leading scorer, converted a four-meter penalty throw for his second goal of the game.

The Crimson's momentum was short-lived as UMass soon capitalized on a penalty throw of its own and upped its advantage to 9-7 on a Mike Melanson goal from close range.

"We just weren't up for the UMass game," Harvard Captain Andy Fred said.

The Crimson almost managed to force overtime but after Marshall's fourth goal pulled Harvard to within one, the swarming UMass defense was able to bat the ball away and avett an extra period.

"Harvard has always shown itself to be a great team with a good coach," Yarworth said. "Hopefully today, we showed that we're a good team [as well]."

Good Shot

The Crimson blew 16th-ranked Army out of the water, 8-6, in the first round Saturday but could not manage to sink top-seeded Navy later in the day. The 11th-ranked Midshipmen eked out a 10-8 victory to advance to the championship game of the tournament. In the title game, Navy defeated Brown, 10-7.

After leading the Cadets throughout the first quarter, Harvard squandered a 5-3 lead in the second period, falling behind, 6-5, early in the third. The Crimson's Eric Bentley popped in a deflection less than one minute later to tie the score.

Harvard dominated the final period and went ahead for good as freshman Chad Barker, a top recruit, scored on a quick shot 31 second into the quarter. Sophomore Mike Johnson notched a hat trick--his third goal coming from 10 meters closed out the scoring--and sophomore Todd Forman contributed two goals in the victory.

Against Navy, Harvard took a 3-1 lead in the first period--the first time that the Crimson has ever held an advantage over a Navy team. Trailing 9-6 in the second half, Harvard clambered back to within one, but Navy managed to put one more away to ensure the victory.

"We really showed a lot of composure coming back like that," Freed said.

Throughout the tournament, tenacious defense and solid goaltending from freshmen Danny Oaks and Peter Toot helped the Crimson uphold the status of its high preseason standing.

"We were the best we've ever looked in the first tournament of the season," Freed said. "We just have to learn to use our unbelievable depth to better advantage."

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard finished seventh in last year's season-opening Eastern League tournament.