Sophomore Mike Garcia scored three out of Harvard’s six goals in its win over Brown last night. The game was the Crimson’s Ivy opener and last regular season match at Blodgett Pool.

Considering that it faced a rival in its last regular-season home game and in its Ivy opener, it’s not surprising that the Harvard men’s water polo was excited about coming out on top over Brown last night.

But the fans seemed even more enthused about the win, and proceeded to celebrate the Crimson’s 6-2 win over the Bears (6-6) by jumping into the pool—fully clothed. The victory propelled Harvard (7-7) into second in the Northern Division.

“I can’t think of a better way to have ended the season at home than by beating Brown,” co-captain Rick Offsay said.

The win was also important for Harvard coach Erik Farrar, who had spent most of his coaching career with the Bears before being hired by the Crimson this summer.

“Erik built a strong program there,” sophomore John Voith said. “And tonight he was able to show even though he’s at Harvard now, he’s still capable of winning.”

Even if it meant that some of the Crimson players suffered a bit in the process.

“He was getting beat up, but Rick did not succumb to their thuggery,” junior goalie Robbie Burmeister said.

Harvard, holding a delicate 1-0 lead going into the second half, was able to blow the game open in the third quarter.

With 3:46 left to go in the period, Offsay found the back of the net, giving the Crimson a 2-0 lead. Immediately after the goal, Farrar took out three of Harvard’s strongest players—Offsay, Voith and sophomore Mike Garcia.

The Crimson wasn’t able to keep Brown scoreless for long without the trio in the pool, and the Bears’ Thomas Payton quickly responded by netting Brown’s first goal about thirty seconds later.

With the Crimson leading 2-1 midway through the third, Farrar called a vital time out. After Harvard regrouped, Voith, Offsay and Garcia reentered the pool to change the atmosphere of the tense, defensively dominated game.

“We all just looked around at each other and realized it was time to go out there and win,” Offsay said.

Eight seconds after the time out, senior Greg Marvin-Smith tallied a goal for the Crimson, sparking the Harvard offense.

Offsay, Voith and co-captain Mike Gerrity all took solid shots for the Crimson on three drives to the goal after Marvin-Smith scored, but were denied by the Bears’ goalie Jay Fantone.

But moments before the buzzer rang, Garcia took a shot from way out to the right side of the goal and muscled the ball into the left corner to give the Crimson a 4-1 lead.