The Harvard water polo team's terrific season ended on a sour note this past weekend, with the Crimson finishing sixth out of eight teams at the Eastern Water Polo Championships and missing a berth to the NCAAs.

This weekend's tournament, which was held in Annapolis, Md., had been Harvard's focal point all year. Over and over, Coach Andy Freed and his players said that their goal was to peak at Easterns.

Unfortunately for Harvard, even the best-laid plans can go awry. And in this case, they did. The sixth-seeded Crimson opened the tournament with a first round loss to Slippery Rock. Freed, who had predicted that the opponents would be overly confident, watched his team fall to an obviously sharper squad, 16-5.

"We just came out really flat," said freshman Alex Kim. "We had been out of the water for a day and a half, which is a long time, and so we played pretty badly."

The loss destroyed Harvard's hope for a Cinderella ending to its season, but the Crimson didn't quit.

"We were worried that there would be a big letdown after the first loss, but we just came out and played tough, just like we did all year," said senior Co-Captain Mason Ford.

In the second round, the team played much more aggressively in defeating Arkansas-Little Rock, 13-9. Junior Jeff Zimmerman and sophomore Jose Busquets led the offense as the Crimson cruised to a comfortable win.

Then came the third round. The last game of the season. Ironically, the match pitted Harvard against archrival Brown.

The Crimson and the Bears have battled tenaciously for precedence on the East Coast water polo pecking order. Harvard broke a 20-year string of Brown victories with a win in late September, but the Bears bounced back to win the next two contests. Now, with both teams out of the running for the NCAA berths, they were playing for honor.

Unfortunately, just as in the New England Championships a week earlier, Harvard fell to Brown in a low-scoring defensive struggle.

The game was tied 7-7 going into the last minute of the contest, but Brown scored a breakaway goal to snatch the win, 8-7.

Truly a heartbreaker.

"Danny Oakes played a great game in goal for us against Brown, just like he has all season," said Ford. "We just came up a little short at the end."

With the loss, Harvard finished its season at 15-9, a six-game improvement from last year.

"We were disappointed this weekend, but we're all optimistic for next season," said Kim. "Last year we didn't even make it to Easterns, and with this being Coach Freed's first year, it was a pretty amazing season. We should only get better."

Indeed, with only four senior starters departing, the Crimson will be a strong squad in the near future, particularly on offense. Like old Brooklyn Dodgers' fans, however, Harvard water polo supporters will have to wait impatiently for that proverbial "next year."