Crimson Finishes Sixth at ECACs

Over the weekend, the Harvard men’s water polo team traveled to Providence for the 2006 ECAC Championships. After finishing dead last in the ECACs in 2005, the Crimson looked to avoid another embarrassing finish.

Seeded sixth, the Crimson ended its tournament run on Sunday, placing sixth overall.

The squad commenced tournament play on Saturday facing off against third-seeded Princeton.

Harvard dropped its first round to the Tigers, losing 14-8. Later that day, the Crimson bounced back against Iona University, taking a 15-10 victory.

On the final day of competition, Harvard, vying for a fifth-place finish, met Johns Hopkins but fell short of that goal, dropping the match 15-7.

JOHNS HOPKINS 15, HARVARD 7

Harvard found its role reversed from a standout performance against Iona to a crippling loss against Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays claimed an early lead in the match, one that proved too difficult to overcome.

“[Johns Hopkins] played very well and we simply didn’t,” Farrar said. “We shot very poorly and they were able to counter-attack us effectively.”

Poor shooting by the Crimson partly explained the loss. Harvard made only seven out of 27 shots on goal.

Of those seven, four were scored by senior John Voith and freshman Spencer Livingston, each notching two goals. Connolly provided another respectable effort in goal, making six saves.

HARVARD 15, IONA 10

In the night game, Harvard struck out against the Iona squad, dominating the game early on. With the scoreboard reading 5-4, the Crimson pushed forth, mustering seven unanswered goals and taking a convincing 12-4 lead.

Scoring for Harvard was spread out, as 11 different members registered points.

Garcia remained the lead scorer for the Crimson with three tallies while freshman Sean Mitchell scored his first collegiate goal in the match.

PRINCETON 14, HARVARD 8

In the first game of the ECACs, the Crimson started off well against Princeton but could not keep up with the Tigers in the long run. By halftime, the Harvard trailed 8-4.

After the half, three goals in three minutes brought the Crimson within one. The small offensive burst was not enough to shift the momentum, as Princeton remained comfortably in the lead for the remainder of the game.

“We played very solidly right out of the gate against Princeton,” said Harvard head coach Erik Farrar. “In crunch time, there were a couple of two crucial two-point swings that we did not overcome. But all in all, we contained them well and there is lots to build on.”

Senior and co-captain Michael Garcia provided most of the offensive output with four goals on the night. Defensively, sophomore goalkeeper Jay Connolly made eight saves for the Crimson.

—Staff writer Vincent R. Oletu can be reached at voletu@fas.harvard.edu.