Men's Water Polo Finishes Fifth At Northerns

It was déjà vu all over again for the Harvard men’s water polo team on Saturday, as the Crimson (4-15) fell to MIT on an overtime penalty shot at Blodgett Pool for the second consecutive time.

This time, neither team scored during the first overtime period or the first 2:47 of the second.

But with just 13 seconds left, MIT was awarded a penalty shot. The Engineers’ Alexei Zykov took the ball in front of Harvard sophomore goalie Robbie Burmeister. The whistle blew, Zykov threw the ball into the goal and the game was over. MIT won, again.

The last time the two teams faced each other, the Engineers won on a penalty shot in triple overtime. This time, there was much more at stake.

The rest of the season was riding upon the Crimson’s first game of the Northern Division Championships. The winner would advance to the Eastern Championships. The loser would play out the rest of the tournament, but couldn’t advance to Easterns.

“It was a little surprising to end the game on a call like that, especially since that’s the way the last game ended,” senior Will Garrigues said.

Though it came up short, the sixth-seeded Crimson battled the third-seeded Engineers fiercely throughout the lengthy game. The score was tied at six entering the fourth quarter, but MIT tallied two unanswered goals.

Harvard regained the momentum after junior Mike Gerrity converted a penalty shot with 4:58 left in the game.

Crimson freshman Mike Garcia proved to be invaluable yet again by hurling the ball into the left corner of the net on a breakaway just 20 seconds later.

Zykov scored the third MIT goal of the quarter with 3:14 left, but the Engineers were unable to stop the Crimson offense.

Gerrity contributed another goal shortly afterwards by throwing the ball from the left side of the goal into the top right corner, and the teams were tied at nine at the end of regulation play.

Harvard struck first at the start of the game. As if in response to the way it lost the last game, the Crimson scored off a penalty shot from Gerrity with 1:34 left in the quarter.

But the Engineers did not let Harvard hold the lead for long, as Grady Snyder scored 20 seconds later.

After taking a few shots on goal early in the quarter, Harvard junior captain Rick Offsay was finally able to score with 51 seconds left. In one quick, fluid motion, Offsay whipped his arm around his body past a defender and put the ball into the goal.

MIT answered back, with David Lohrey rapidly scoring another goal before the end of the quarter.

The Engineers jumped ahead for the first time in the second quarter. John Rogers was able to carve out position so close to the goal that all it took for him to score was an easy lob over Burmeister’s head.

But Burmeister was not going to let Rogers score again, and made an impressive save when Rogers came back to the net two minutes later.

Meanwhile, the Crimson offense finally woke up and scored three goals of its own, while MIT managed just one to give Harvard a 5-4 lead at the half.

But just like the last game—where it had led the Engineers 3-2—the Crimson was unable to hold on to the victory.

“We did the best we could,” Gerrity said. “It’s just sad we ended the season that way.”

Harvard 11, Fordham 5

After the MIT loss, the Crimson came back strong against seventh-seeded Fordham in an 11-5 victory later that afternoon.

The seven Harvard seniors started the game, but after the Rams scored two unanswered goals to start the first, Crimson coach Scott Russell reinserted most of the Harvard regulars, with senior Reid Bolton remaining in goal.

It didn’t take the Crimson long to get back in the game. Offsay scored less than a minute after entering, and senior Andrew Gartland also tallied a goal before the quarter was over to tie the score at two apiece. The Crimson never trailed again.

In a dominating second-quarter performance, Harvard netted four goals while shutting out Fordham. Garcia scored the first goal, putting his shot into the right corner of the net with 4:20 left in the half.

He also showed off his defensive talent, guarding a Fordham player so tightly that the player had no choice but to throw the ball into the hands of Harvard junior John Lynch.

Lynch added a goal later in the quarter, as did sophomore Eugen Taso.

The Crimson scored another four goals in the fourth quarter, while Bolton held the Rams to just two. Lynch, freshmen Borna Dabiri and Alasandro Lazzarini and senior David Stahl scored for Harvard.

Harvard 8, Brown 7

After the ups and downs of Saturday, the Crimson returned to the pool to face fourth-seeded Brown and toppled the Bears 8-7.

Gerrity cited Burmeister’s performance as a major reason for the victory.

The Crimson led Brown 4-1 in the second quarter and never relinquished the lead. Harvard lost to the Bears in their previous two meetings this season by scores of 13-2 and 15-6.

“We don’t like Brown, and Brown definitely doesn’t like us,” Garrigues said. “The win definitely ended the season on a high note.”

With the win, Harvard took fifth place in the tournament. Its two wins on the weekend also doubled its season total to four.