The rousing chants of Harvard fans filled Blodgett Pool last night during the third quarter of the men’s water polo game against Brown. The Crimson was poised to make a dramatic five-goal comeback for its Senior Night and final home game of the season. It appeared as if victory over the Bears was in reach.
And then three unanswered goals from Brown quickly reversed that notion.
Harvard (6-12, 0-3 CWPA) lost to the Bears (13-4, 6-1), 12-9, last night in a game that was characterized by a series of momentum swings, which eventually fell in favor of Brown.
“We struggled to play consistently,” co-captain Bret Voith said. “There were a couple periods [when] we were playing really well, but there were a couple mental lapses that cost us that game. When we slowed down and slowed our offense down, we were able to gain that momentum.”
The Bears came out ready to play last night, winning the sprint and scoring two unanswered goals within the first 75 seconds of play.
They dominated both sides of the ball in the first quarter with two more unanswered goals. Brown’s defense consistently shut down the Crimson, and it was not until five minutes in that senior Alex Thompson got off the first shot of the game.
“We could have easily curled up into a ball and gave up,” Harvard coach Ted Minnis said. “We were down 5-0 at the end of the first, but we kept going. We dig ourselves into big holes sometimes, but we never give up.”
Just before halftime, the team’s resilience paid off when sophomore Max Eliot scored despite a two-on-one battle at the two-meter mark.
The clock soon ran down toward the break, but not before Voith could score from five-meters in the final six seconds.
“The first quarter, our offense was just terrible—I think we weren’t patient enough, and we weren’t taking shots, and the shots we did have, they were rushed,” Voith said. “But in the second quarter, we took those extra five seconds on the clock. We worked to break down the defense before we shot.”
Harvard was able to build upon its improvements after halftime by switching to a zone defense that successfully held off the Bears.
“[Brown] struggled to break it,” Voith said. “We ran it pretty effectively for a quarter and a half.”
Despite a goal from the Bears early in the third, a decisive ejection drawn by junior Kevin DiSilvestro on a counter attack swung the momentum firmly onto the Crimson’s side.
In the six-on-five, junior Evan Zepfel hit the post from the left side of the pool, but freshman Neal O’Hara threw the ball in off the rebound from the set position, prompting cheers from the home crowd of Senior Night fans and freshman parents.
“The crowd really fed the boys in there,” Minnis said. “That’s what it’s really about: the yelling, the atmosphere.”
The home crowd’s excitement persisted as Zepfel and Voith each scored an unanswered goal.
But the rally was short-lived, as the tables quickly turned and Brown notched three uncontested goals on Harvard in the third quarter.
Although the Crimson scored shortly before the end of the quarter, Harvard and Brown matched each other in the fourth with three goals apiece to close the game 12-9.
For senior Jeff Lee, last night’s loss inspired mixed feelings as the last home game of the season.
“It’s bittersweet,” said Lee, who was honored alongside Thompson and Voith in the pre-game Senior Night ceremonies. “Obviously, I would have liked to go out with a win, but it’s been a good four years. We still have a lot of games to look forward to. We have three crucial conference games coming up this weekend. We’re just going to shift our focus now and see where we go from there.”
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