Men’s Water Polo Hosts ECACs, Places 11th in Tournament

Despite losing its first two matches, the Harvard men’s water polo team rebounded in convincing fashion to easily win its third and final game in the annual Eastern College Athletic Conference Men’s Water Polo Championships, held at the Blodgett Pool last weekend. Tenth-seeded Harvard finished a disappointing 11th out of 12 teams.

The Crimson (3-7) began the tournament on Friday in a highly-anticipated matchup against crosstown rival MIT, losing on the Engineers’ fourth-quarter goal in a thrilling 7-6 defeat. In Saturday’s contest, Harvard proved to be no match for 11th-seeded Mercyhurst, which resoundingly defeated the Crimson, 11-3. After the lopsided loss came Harvard’s lopsided win, a 19-3 rout over Washington and Jefferson.

The fact that the tournament was at Harvard made it that much more important to the team.

“We talked about protecting our house and not letting people come in and beat us in our home,” Harvard coach Ted Minnis said. “We wanted to make a statement that we know what we’re doing...[and that] Harvard water polo is going to be something people here on campus are...very proud of.“

HARVARD 19, WASHINGTON AND JEFFERSON 3

In its final match of the tournament yesterday, the Crimson dominated from the outset to the conclusion.

Indeed, after scoring twice in the first minute and a half, Harvard did not relent, netting seven goals in the first period and tacking on seven more in the second. In addition to the solid offense, the defense stifled nearly every opportunity that the opposing team had, accounting for the Crimson’s 14-2 lead at the half.

The Presidents (0-5) only managed to add one score in the second half, while 11 different Crimson players had found the back of the net by the end of the contest. Harvard’s 19 goals are the team’s most in a game this season.

Despite a shaky start to the tournament, Minnis was pleased with the team’s play in its final match.

“[We] played really hard on defense,” Minnis said. “And we didn’t let them believe they could play with us at any point. I was very proud of the way the boys played.”

MERCYHURST 11, HARVARD 3

After losing a nailbiter against MIT the previous day, Harvard took on Mercyhurst (4-3) looking to bounce back on Saturday. But throughout the game, the home team failed to keep up with the opposing Lakers. Only down by one after the first period, the Crimson faded in the rest of the match, only scoring once more in the final three periods while Mercyhurst scored eight times.

A part of Harvard’s problem was squandered opportunity: though the Crimson had a total of 12 6-on-5 advantages near the Lakers’ goal, Harvard scored only once with a man up. In addition, Mercyhurst utilized the drop—a defensive strategy to which the Crimson had little exposure—in which the Laker defenders crashed towards the goal to take away Harvard’s advantage.

Minnis summarized the loss succinctly: “It was ugly.”

MIT 7, HARVARD 6

Harvard squared off against MIT (3-3) on Friday in a packed Blodgett Pool, filled with the din of pot-clanging MIT students. While the Crimson only surrendered one goal in the first period, the defense began to slip in the second, allowing four scores. Meanwhile, Harvard could not find its rhythm offensively, stifled by the Engineers’ defense.

It took more than four minutes for the Crimson to take its first shot, and Harvard entered halftime down 5-0. The second half seemed to be a completely different game.

Fueled by Minnis’ halftime speech, which, according to senior driver Jeff Lee, “really fired us up,” the Crimson scored three times in total in the third period, making the score 6-3. Lee scored two of the goals.

In the final period, Harvard quickly scored twice, and junior co-captain Luka Babic nailed a long-distance equalizer with 4:54 left in regulation. Nevertheless, the Crimson failed to hang on to the tie, and the Engineers’ goal later in the period proved to be the deciding one.

The game could have been much more lopsided had it not been for the play of junior goalkeeper Alexandre Popp. His 15 saves mark his highest total this season and tied a career best.

“Teddy’s been telling me all season: ‘You gotta make the saves you need to make, and the one or two extra saves to change the momentum,’” Popp said. “And that’s what I was telling myself all during warm-up: it’s going to be a close game. I gotta do my job and a little extra.”

Popp’s mental preparation paid dividends.

“Alex had a couple really key saves,” Lee said.

Lee also played an integral part in the team’s comeback, as his hat trick accounted for half of the team’s goals.

“Jeff is Jeff,” Minnis said. “He comes out there and he plays hard and he goes and gets those goals when we need some goals.”

Nevertheless, Minnis focused not on the accomplishments of the individual but of the team.

“We win as a group, and we lose as a group, and I think tonight was a total team effort by everyone,” he said.