Men's Water Polo Takes Third at Ivies

The Harvard men’s water polo team split its two weekend games at the Ivy League Championship in Philadelphia on its way to a third-place finish.

The Crimson was hoping to defeat division rival Brown for the third time this year after having gone winless the previous seven years. But the team was unable to translate its earlier success this Sunday, falling to the Bears (13-9, 7-5 CWPA Northern) in the first game of the tournament, 12-9.

No. 17 Harvard (11-9, 8-1 CWPA Northern) was able to bounce back later in the day, finishing strong in a consolation match against Penn (11-7, 9-0 CWPA Mid-Atlantic), 22-11.

“We were disappointed with our loss against Brown,” senior goalkeeper Jimmy Field said. “But we were able to rebound and overcome a strong Penn team.”

HARVARD 22, PENN 11

On Sunday afternoon, the Crimson offense started strong and never looked back, scoring 15 first-half goals on its way to victory against host Penn.

“We were able to start scoring early and keep the attack going,” Field said.

Harvard benefitted from a balanced attack, as 10 players tallied goals in the contest, including a team-high and career-high four from freshman Dan Stevens.

“We came out against Penn with something to prove,” Stevens said. “In that game, we came out much harder than we did against Brown.”

Sophomore Noah Harrison and junior John Holland-McCowan also added hat tricks of their own. With his four goals on the day, Harrison now has a team-leading 42 on the season. Freshman Joey Colton led the team with four assists against the Quakers.

Senior Will Roller and sophomore Robbie Fluegge led the defensive effort for the Crimson with five and four steals, respectively. The team utilized a three-man rotation in nets, as Field and sophomores Connor Denney and Colin Woolway combined for seven saves in the game.

“We had a few letdowns,” Field said. “But we’ll hopefully…work through them this week.”

After defeating Penn in its own pool on Sunday, Harvard improved to 6-2 on the road this season.

BROWN 12, HARVARD 9

The Crimson was able to tally six goals in an offensive surge in the fourth period. But despite the late attack, Harvard was unable to come back and erase its early deficit, losing to the Bears by three goals.

Seven Crimson players scored in the game, but the spread-out attack was not enough to take down the Bears on Sunday. Sophomore Blake Lee paced the Harvard attack with two goals and three assists in the losing effort. The team-assist leader Colton added two goals in the contest as well.

The two teams came out of the gates even, alternating goals in the first eight minutes to end the period knotted at three scores apiece.

However, Brown took control of the second quarter, outscoring the Crimson, 3-1, in the frame to send Harvard into halftime with a two-goal deficit.

“We had some unfortunate turnovers and some shots that we just weren’t able to put away,” Field said. “And that let them get a little momentum.”

The Crimson was not able to regain any momentum after halftime, failing to score a goal in the third period as the team saw the gap widen to six goals.

“I thought we came out flat,” Stevens said. “Early on they dominated and by the time we were able to catch up it was too little, too late.”

Harvard decided to go with a goalkeeper rotation for the tournament opener as well. Goalkeepers Field and Woolway manned the net for the Crimson, recording a combined three saves.

The loss snapped a seven-game win streak for the squad, its only such streak of the season. The team had not lost in almost a month, dating all the way back to a two-goal defeat at Iona Sep. 21.

Harvard has now split its four games against Brown this season. Before the Crimson won its two straight games, Brown won the first matchup of the season, 9-8, in the Bruno Fall Classic.

“Being 2-2 against Brown has really fostered an intense rivalry with them,” Stevens said. “We know that every time we play [Brown] it will be a strong, physical, and ultimately very close game.”

The Crimson has not fared well in neutral site games this year, falling to a 2-7 record in these games on the season.

“They came out strong and we weren’t able to execute as well as we had hoped,” Field said. “We weren’t able to put it together.”