Sophomore Michael Garcia surveys the pool during the men’s water polo team’s 6-5 loss to Bucknell during the third game of the ECAC Championships at Blodgett Pool this weekend. The Crimson finished eighth overall in the tournament.

The numbers on the scoreboard didn’t even change at the end of the game. The sign read 10-10 with no time left.

Even though the Harvard men’s water polo team had lost by one to No. 13 Navy in the opening game of the ECAC championships—a tournament with all the top teams on the East Coast—the scoreboard continued to read 10-10, refusing to acknowledge a last-second goal the Crimson swimmers couldn’t quite believe either.

Throughout the four periods of highly competitive play, 10th-seeded Harvard (2-4) had been giving the packed stands at Blodgett Pool something to cheer about. The clear underdog in the match-up against No. 1 seed Navy, Harvard was two seconds away from forcing an extra frame against the Midshipmen. But on a controversial goal in the last moments of the game, Navy took the victory.

The final tally, which some thought came after the buzzer sounded, was declared invalid at first by one of the referees on the side of the pool, and the Crimson thought it would get a chance to win in overtime. But after consulting for several moments, the two officials decided the goal would count, robbing Harvard of its first big-game win this season.

But the scoreboard remained unchanged, and the Crimson players climbed out of the pool and stood in front of the stands, as the fans continued to cheer them on.

“When the guy shot and they called it a goal, I was a little bit shocked that they counted it,” sophomore John Voith said.

A two-goal win over No. 20 Bucknell in its penultimate game would have allowed the Crimson to advance to the championship, but a 6-5 loss placed Harvard third in its bracket, and left it with opportunity to play for only seventh place.

St. Francis, the same team that defeated Harvard last weekend, took home the championship. Bucknell and Navy placed second and fourth, respectively.

The Crimson’s offensive efforts did not go unnoticed, however, as both senior co-captains Rick Offsay and Mike Gerrity were named to the coaches’ All-Tournament First and Second Teams, respectively.

Harvard now has a week and a half off to prepare for its next contest, when it will have a rematch against MIT on Oct. 6.

“We got to see what we are made of this weekend,” Offsay said. “Now we get to go back, prepare, and take care of business, and then show everyone what we learned from that.”

MIT 8, HARVARD 6

In its final game of the championship, Harvard seemed to lose its fire.

The team that was once poised to play in the championship game was now playing for seventh against MIT, and its performance was nowhere near the caliber it had been on opening day of the ECAC Championships.

“Water polo is a really demanding sport physically as well as mentally, so I think we just need to continue to work on making the right decisions and executing when we are tired,” said junior goaltender Robbie Burmeister.