For once a loss isn't too hard to swallow.

For the first time all season long, the Harvard men's water polo played close to its potential last night against Brown. Unfortunately for the Crimson players, the only thing they have to show for their performance is a 10-6 loss.

"It was by far our best effort of the season," said coach Don Benson'88. "People were dejected after the loss, but the guys came ready to play."

Brown's size and speed proved too much for Harvard's attack, especially in the final minutes of play.

With Harvard only trailing 8-6 and only two minutes left on the clock, Brown released a deadly two-point shot which extended the lead to six and dashed all Crimson hopes of a victory.

"We knew that they were going to be strong," Benson said. "They are physical and they are fast, but we still made a few mistakes which cost us."

This defeat comes on the heels of two dismal performances for the Crimson. The physical talent is clearly present, thus the mental toughness and focus of the players was quickly coming into question.

"We did a lot of self reflection and mentally we looked at the root of the problem," Benson said. "We weren't doing the fundamental things right so we tried to improve upon those things and play the game that we know we can."

Once again the Harvard attack was evenly spread throughout the lineup Junior 2-meter man Mike Zimmerman and sophomore Dror Bar-ziv led all scorers with two goals, while captain Andy Davis and junior Chris Tilgham added a tally apiece.

Harvard will be in action again this weekend at the Navy Invitational Tournament.