In two of Harvard’s meetings with MIT last year, overtime spelled death for the Crimson men’s water polo squad. As the clock ticked down its final seconds in the game last night, junior goaltender Robbie Burmeister knew he would have to preserve Harvard’s delicate 8-7 lead and secure the victory during regulation time.

With twelve seconds to go, the players reentered the pool after a brief time-out. With drums from the MIT fans beating in the background, the Crimson and the Engineers prepared themselves for a final battle.

The ball belonged to MIT, and the team poised itself to tie the game. Burmeister waited for the shot, made a beautiful save and sealed the victory for Harvard.

The Crimson (4-4) has now matched its win total from last year. This was a pivotal game for the team, which finished a disappointing eighth at the ECAC with close losses to Navy, Bucknell and the Engineers.

Defeating the Engineers seemed out of reach for Harvard at the start of the game. The Crimson was facing a team with a powerful 11-7 record and coming off a four game win streak. MIT seemed to dominate early, running more drives than Harvard and frustrating the offensive.

But the Crimson defense stayed strong and unraveled the Engineers’ strategy. Harvard began the second period with a stretch of defensive dominance that held MIT to just one goal until the last period.

“I was really proud of the way the guys tightened up on defense,” co-captain Rick Offsay said. “Robbie was doing a good job of coordinating the plays.”

The Engineers attempted to tire out the Crimson’s hole set and main scorer Offsay—a strategy which helped MIT win last week. But Harvard grew wise to the plan and adjusted its play.

“I was really impressed with Rick tonight, specifically because the MIT guys did a really good job of making him swim two to two,” Burmeister said.

With the help of his teammates, Offsay turned in a performance much more dominant than his last against the Engineers.

“The guys did a good job of noticing when I was in trouble and helping me play defense so I didn’t have to run around,” he said. “Once we were able to counter their strategy, we shut them out.”

Harvard seemed like a completely different team for the rest of the game and played with more confidence and skill.

“After their third goal, we really shut them down offensively by pressing hard and communicating better on drives,” Burmeister said.

Leading 6-4 entering the final seven minutes of the game, the Crimson built up a comfortable three goal lead when sophomore Mike Garcia scored on a breakaway a minute into the last period.

But it wouldn’t be a Harvard-MIT game without having a penalty shot awarded to the Engineers, which is how they won both games in overtime last season. The Engineers’ Alexei Zykov netted a goal on a penalty, narrowing the Crimson’s lead to two.