The Harvard men’s water polo team begins its season in earnest this weekend, hosting the Harvard Invitational. The Crimson will face Brown, MIT and club teams Tufts and Williams, as a well as an entry representing the New York Athletic Club, made up of former and current Olympians.

Brown will be a familiar opponent for Harvard, who faced the Bears in a scrimmage on Sunday.

“The scrimmage against Brown went well,” co-captain Alex Fisher said. “We tried a lot of different lineup combinations.”

“Everyone received a lot of playing time,” co-captain Mike Masterson added. “The scrimmage exposed our strengths and also what we need to continue to work on.”

Harvard enters the coming season needing to replace nine starters lost to graduation. The Crimson will build upon a small cast of returning starters, including very talented upperclassmen like Masterson and Fisher.

In addition, the team’s goaltending should be an area of strength, with senior Paul Tselentis, the goalie of the South African national team, bringing talent and experience to Blodgett Pool.

A further strength is the team’s depth and conditioning. Senior Istvan Zollei characterizes the Crimson as “the most physically fit team on the east coast.”

“Our strength as a team is our chemistry, and that will bring us to the realization of our goal [for the season],” Masterson said.

That goal is an improvement on last year’s third place finish at the Eastern Championships, which Harvard can see itself winning in 2002.

“We have the talent and the potential to win the Eastern Championships and go to the Final Four,” Masterson said.

While that remains to be seen, the road the Crimson must take begins this weekend at Blodgett.

—Staff writer Timothy M. McDonald may be reached at mcdonal@fas.harvard.edu.