If the Harvard water polo team needed a lift after their tough loss to Brown last Thursday, they got one last night against MIT.

"This was the first game of the season which we completely dominated," Coach Andrew Freed '90 said.

Dominate they did, with a resounding 18-5 victory over the Beavers at Blodgett Pool last night.

Co-captain Jeff Zimmerman and junior Jose Busquets each scored five goals as the Crimson tallied 11 goals in the second half after a slow start.

In all, Harvard took a whopping 31 shots on goal, while MIT could only muster 17.

Sophomore Justin Alexander added four goals to help the Crimson's cause.

"I was satisfied with the team's offensive and defensive play," Freed said. "We are putting the powers that be on notice that the battle for the Eastern Championships will be for second place. We're a championship caliber team playing at a championship level."

The opening half began slowly for the Crimson, who led just 7-3 at the half. But Freed goaded his team into action with some choice words and Harvard exploded for 11 goals in the second half.

"C'mon, you've already missed the Simpsons," he yelled at his team at one point.

The defense was equally formidable, anchored by outstanding play from Zimmerman and co-captain Erik Atkisson. Forcing MIT to make many poor passes, the Crimson landed 21 steals, a figure Freed said "speaks for itself" and set up many Harvard scores.

Harvard goalkeeping put the finishing touches on the Crimson victory. Junior Jeb Miller (Freed: "his best game all season") and junior Cliff Chen shut down the MIT offense with five saves apiece.

But in the end, the story was the offense. Or maybe Harvard just wanted to get home for "Seinfeld."

"No other team can match our offensive weapons," Freed said. "Zimmerman and Alexander solidified their position as the premier two-meter men on the East Coast."