Harvard's men's water polo team displayed the difference between NCAA Division I and Division II water polo last night, trouncing Williams 20-4 in Blodgett Pool.

Harvard, now 14-2 and winners in 12 of their last 13, outswam Williams, New England's top Division II squad, in an fine display of water polo strategy and ability.

Junior Ricardo Guerra led the Crimson offense with six goals and an assist. His five tallies in the first quarter set a new team record.

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For Harvard, the game turned out to be merely a warm-up for today's Ivy League Tournament in Providence where the Crimson seeks to avenge an 11-7 loss to Brown, currently the best team in the Ivies. Harvard also takes on Columbia, Yale and MIT in today's tourney for the unofficial Ivy crown.

Harvard coach Steve Pike sees today's games as critical for Crimson post-season hopes. "We've got to beat the teams that are better than us," he said.

The NCAA water polo tournament is invitational, and Pike predicts no more than two Eastern teams will be invited. Pike says Harvard now rates "third or fourth" in the East.

"We cannot finish third or fourth in the East and expect to get invited to the NCAAs," Pike said. "We've got to finish first or second," he added.

To do that the Crimson has to defeat Brown twice this season by overcoming the slowness in Harvard's switching defense which marked the loss to Brown earlier this year. Pike feels this weakness has been shored up.

"There are no surprises," he said. "We know what to expect from Brown's offense."

If Harvard's play against Williams is any indication, the Crimson defense is up to par. The Crimson held Williams scoreless until just 33 seconds before the half.

With a 12-1 halftime lead Pike rested goalie Richard Reid, who conceded, "It wasn't too tough out there." But even Harvard's second-string defense proved stingy, allowing the Williams offense few scoring opportunities.