Men's Polo Team Wins

Riding a seven-game winning streak, the Harvard men's water polo team (9-7, 8-4 CWPA) rolled over MIT in a 10-6 win last night at Blodgett pool.

Six players scored for the Crimson, while sophomore goalie Gresham Bayne held the Beavers to only five points on four goals, tallying eight saves in the process.

Sophomore driver Mike Crosby led the way for the Crimson offense, racking up three points on two goals. Freshman Istvan Zollei also scored two goals, while fellow freshman Mike Masterson added two points on his lone goal. Also scoring for Harvard were freshmen Theo Ludwick and Chris Lin and junior Tom Elke.

"It was a balanced attack," head coach Jim Floerchinger said. "Anyone can uncork a great game, but you know that you [the team] are doing well when a lot of people score."

Harvard came out full of energy, as it jumped all over the Beavers early in the game. In the first quarter, the Crimson scored six points while entirely shutting out the MIT offense.

After an uneventful second quarter and half of the third quarter, the Crimson led the game 8-2, at which point Coach Floerchinger substituted for his starters. Harvard cruised from there.

"Our counter-attack worked fine," Floerchinger said. "Whenever we stopped them, we pushed it back up the field quickly."

The Beavers made a furious rally in the third quarter, pulling within three points with 3:03 left in the quarter. However, the Crimson defense buckled down and held MIT to one goal for the rest of the game.

"What you want as a coach is for everyone to look out for each other," Floerchinger said. "Teammates should back up one another's mistakes."

Lin's goal with 36 seconds left in the game sealed the Crimson win.

The Crimson is coming off of a five-game sweep at the Northern League Tournament in New York this weekend in which they outscored their opponents 66-28. Systematically, they dismissed Lehman, Villanova, Fordham, Iona, and the United States Military Marine Academy.

Currently riding a seven-game winning streak, the longest of Coach Floerchinger's tenure, Harvard looks to extend its streak this weekend in California. The coach attributes the success to good team play.

"We're playing well as a unit," he said. "We're finally achieving awareness in the half-court. We're finding teammates open and making the pass."

In a game that was hardly ever in doubt, the Crimson used MIT to practice its team play. Harvard's execution, which has flourished throughout the winning streak, shined throughout the first half.

"What we can take from this game is that we're getting better," Floerchinger said. "Every game, whether it's a tough game or not, we work on something to improve. We're getting better at doing the key things more consistently."

Throughout the game, the Crimson distributed the ball effectively and got everyone involved. Every member of the team entered the game, giving invaluable playing experience to the new players. Though new personnel could have led to confusion, the Crimson maintained their edge.

"Our communication is definitely improving," Floerchinger said. "It's something we did not do well at the beginning of the season."

Going into their next game against the Redlands in California today, the team is riding a wave of high spirits.

"The coaching staff goes out of its way to make the game fun," Floerchinger said. "We know that Harvard students are under a lot of pressure, so we try to inject a lot of fun into the atmosphere."

While the team keeps winning, the coaches won't have to strain too hard to keep the atmosphere fun. Especially when playing in California.