The land-rats of Army took to the water at Smith Pool in Providence, R.I. last Saturday against the Harvard men's water polo team in the first round of the Northeastern Championships and left the Crimson floundering in its wake--upsetting Harvard 10-8.

Although the Crimson finished the weekend with back-to-back wins against MIT (14-9) and Queens (14-12), the first-round loss dropped the Crimson into the losers bracket, eliminated it from the NCAA tournament consideration and essentially ended its season.

"It was a big disappointment," Coach Andy Fred '90 said. "We just couldn't get it done."

Previously Defeated Army

The Crimson had defeated Army a month ago in overtime, and entered the opening-round rematch confidently--maybe too confidently.

"It was going to be a good game, but we were expecting to win," junior driver Jose Busquets said.

"There was no question we could beat them," co-captain Jeff Zimmerman said.

Army, which is cutting its water polo program next year, shaved their bodies for the meet (a la the swimming teams) and slithered out to an early 4-1 lead.

"Army came out really fired up and we were really flat." Zimmerman said. "We were forced to play catch up the whole game, basically."

Harvard closed the gap to 6-4 by halftime, only to see Army regain the momentum and extend its lead to 10-5 by the end of the third quarter.

Army scored no goals in the fourth quarter but held off the Crimson comeback to advance into the second round.

"I think we were prepared, but a coach can't force a team to play with more desire," Freed said. "Army was the hungrier team [Saturday]. They got to more loose balls, and controlled the tempo of the game."

Following the loss, the Crimson came back on Sunday to defeat MIT, with Busquets and sophomore Julian Alexander scoring four goals apiece.

"I was pleased that we woke up for the MIT game," Freed said. "I also got a chance to play the bench."

Queens Victory

The win against Queens on Sunday placed the Crimson fifth in the tournament behind tournament champion Brown, second-place Massachusetts, Army, and Iona.

Zimmerman, in the last tournament of his collegiate career, finished the 19-game season with 97 goals.

"It was very anti-climactic," Zimmerman said. "I'd assumed that we'd be playing at Easterns. It all hasn't hit me yet."