Aquamen Annihilate MIT, 20-10

The annual Harvard water polo game at MIT, dubbed by hyped Techies as the "Tech Bowl," has quickly turned into the "Tech Bust."

Prolific Crimson junior Peter Richards slammed in seven goals, leading a 20-10 Crimson rout at MIT's Alumni Pool last night. Richards and omnipresent hole man Chad Barker teamed up for seven of eight first-period Harvard tallies, squelching any chance of an MIT victory before their Speedos were even damp.

"The key is that we executed what we have been doing in practice," Richards said. "They played with intensity and pressed us very well, but we were just too powerful in the end."

Despite the offensive onslaught, Crimson Coach Chris Hafferty credited the Crimson's domination to tenacious defensive play. Goalies Dan Oakes and Peter Toot divided the time in the Harvard net, each allowing only five goals during their 14-minute stints.

"The defense and the team as a whole, did an incredible job in controlling the entire flow of the game," Hafferty said. "MIT was active in pursuing the goal, but to the credit of our defense, there were very few openings for them to take advantage of."

Warm Up the Guns

Although Harvard started the game with an unexpected number of careless turnovers, it shortly became evident that the Techies were in for a long swim. Richards' and Barker's initial scoring surge yielded an 8-2 lead at the end of the first period.

As the game progressed, other Crimson drivers began to warm up their arms. Steve Kan, Mason Ford, Ben Hansen, and Bruce Burkley all added two goals as assist man Barker presented the offense with many scoring opportunities.

The Crimson was helped greatly by a tentative MIT team that missed numerous scoring opportunities. The opposing squad lacked leadership for most of the game until driver Jim Lee sparked MIT with several key goals.

"Harvard has a very good team and tonight they played a very exact, disciplined game," MIT Coach John Benedict said. "We shot poorly and missed far too many chances to change the pace of the game."

Big Weekend

As Harvard prepares to compete in the Brown Invitational this weekend and face the nation's top three teams--the University of California-Berkeley, UCLA and the University of California-Irvine--Hafferty is optimistic and looking forward to showcasing the Crimson's ability to compete with the recognized, power-house teams.

"We're really hoping to surprise a few people this weekend because those teams are of such an incredible caliber," Hafferty said. "If we continue to play at such a high level, heads will definetly turn. The opportunities are endless."

Josie Karp contributed to the reporting of this story.