Water Polo Extends Skid with Two Losses

Frustration is building for Harvard men’s water polo. The road-weary Crimson (2-9, 1-3 CWPA) brought a six-game losing streak into the long weekend, hoping to reverse the trend with critical contests against Iona and Fordham on Sunday. Instead, after dropping the games 12-10 and 14-6, respectively, Harvard left as it had arrived, searching for answers in a season that started so well.

“We have to get everybody back on the same page,” Harvard coach Erik Farrar said. “We need to get back in sync and start doing what we do best, not [straying from] the plan.”

Farrar’s concern stems from a disparity between individual talent on the Crimson roster and team play in the pool. While many have performed well, logging high save totals and solid offensive efforts, Harvard has just been unable to hold it together for four quarters. This tendency proved particularly painful against the Gaels, as the Crimson watched a fourth-quarter lead evaporate in minutes by allowing three unanswered goals to open the frame.

“In those first three quarters against Iona, we played some of our best water polo of the year,” Farrar said. “We came out and jumped on them. Guys were flying around, playing great team defense. But the lapse in the fourth proved decisive.”

Although the two-goal loss represented an improvement over a 15-10 defeat at the hands of the Gaels in September, some Crimson competitors showed concern at the team’s lack of consistent execution.

“I thought we were really moving forward as a team, but this weekend we really took a step back,” sophomore Jeff Lee. “Guys are just not focused.”

The Crimson still has a long way to go, closing out the regular season with two of its last three contests at home, followed by a two-week break to prepare for the Northern Championships next month.

“We’re playing for seeding right now,” co-captain David Tune explained. “We’re definitely going to Northern’s and I don’t think we’re in a terrible spot, even with these two losses.”

FORDHAM 14, HARVARD 6

Sophomore Alex Thompson netted another hat trick to lead the Harvard attack, while Tune, sophomore Bret Voith, and freshman Mike Katzer rounded out the scoring in a difficult loss to the Rams (9-8, 1-3 CWPA).

After a morning game in New Rochelle, N.Y., the Crimson quickly headed to the Bronx, where it was not able to sustain enough energy to hang with the hosts.

“Fordham was one of those games where the wheels just came off,” Farrar said. “You hate to see it, but it is what it is.”

Co-captain Jay Connolly and junior Nikhil Balaraman split time in goal for the second contest, combining for 10 saves, but the Crimson appeared deflated after its earlier defeat.

“I think the first game [against Iona] affected us, and it shouldn’t have,” Tune said. “We didn’t prepare enough mentally and took Fordham a bit for granted.”

The lack of focus may have resulted from a 13 game winning streak against the Rams, but Harvard soon discovered that this dominance would not last. Backed by five goals from sophomore Alex Powell, Fordham earned its first victory against the Crimson since 1999.

IONA 12, HARVARD 10

In the first matchup of the weekend, Harvard suffered its second loss of the season against the Gaels (11-14, 3-1), despite stellar play for three of the four quarters.

The Crimson jumped out to a 2-0 lead to open the contest and sustained an edge with a barrage of goals from Voith and junior Egen Atkinson. The two continued their strong seasons with three and five goals, respectively, but Iona owned the final period, opening a two-goal lead and preventing Harvard from ever pulling even.

Tune and freshman Luka Babic also added scores, and Connolly matched a season-high with 12 saves on the day. The Crimson will have to hope for a third contest if it hopes to top the Gaels this year.

—Staff writer Max N. Brondfield can be reached at mbrondf@fas.harvard.edu.s