The biggest showdown of Saturday night didn’t take place on a field—it was in the pool.

After dropping its first matchup of the day, the Harvard men’s water polo team came back to play a nail-biting night game that had spectators on the edge of their seats for nearly two hours.

Despite the excitement, the Crimson’s opponents proved too much to handle as Harvard (3-8, 0-2 CWPA North) lost to Fordham (8-7, 2-1), 13-5, before barely falling in sudden-death play to Iona (2-6, 1-1), 11-10, at Blodgett Pool this Saturday.

“It’s disappointing to start our conference play 0-2,” co-captain Bret Voith said. “But I think our team is trying to take the perspective of ‘it happens’, and move forward.”

The tough games tested the entirety of the Crimson’s lineup, and while seniors Alex Thompson, Jeff Lee, and Voith continued to have a powerful presence, a number of other players made their mark as well.

Juniors Kevin DiSilvestro, Mike Katzer, and co-captain Luka Babic, sophomore Max Eliot, and freshman Neal O’Hara all contributed at least one goal to the day’s efforts. Junior goalkeeper Alexandre Popp had 25 saves in the two games, a quarter of his total in the entire 2009-10 season.

“Everybody stepped up,” Harvard coach Ted Minnis said. “We have a talented senior class and rely on them, but it’s great to see them get some help.”

IONA 11, HARVARD 10 (4 OT)

In what was the Crimson’s most contentious matchup of the year so far, it took four overtimes to finally get a decision against conference opponent Iona.

The game started off very back-and-forth with the Gaels scoring and Harvard quickly responding. The Crimson never pulled ahead, but Iona had no more than a two-goal lead before halftime.

In the third period, the crossbar stopped a series of Harvard shots, while at the other end of the pool Popp kept the Gaels’ offense at bay. But Iona was able to put away two more goals and was up 8-5 going into the last period of regulation play.

With Popp still making a number of crucial saves, the Crimson offense went to work.

“I think our offense was the best it’s been all year, especially in the second half,” Voith said. “We’ve scored more goals [before], but I think that our offense looked very fluid, and we were breaking their zone very effectively.”

Harvard pulled within one, but couldn’t close the gap until Voith put it in the back of the net to make the score 9-9 with about two minutes to play.

Both teams took timeouts to set up plays in the remaining time, but nothing materialized as the clock hit zero.

In the first of two three-minute overtime halves, the teams’ defenses were the stars, preventing any goals.

It looked like the second overtime period might be scoreless as well until there were less than 40 seconds on the clock. After a drive by the Gael offense, the Crimson’s Popp got possession and, instead of looking for the long pass, took a cross-pool shot that sailed over Iona’s retreating goalkeeper.

The ball hit the water just in front of the goal before bouncing in, putting Harvard up by one.

But with 18 seconds left, the Gaels came back and once again made it a tie game.

Now in the first period of sudden-death overtime, it looked like the Crimson finally had the chance to put away the win. After an Iona foul, Harvard was awarded a penalty shot, but before Voith could take it, the Gaels’ coach was ejected for his loud protestations.

“[The officials] let other things take over, and I think the whole situation killed a bit of our momentum,” Minnis said.

Voith regrouped for the shot, but it wasn’t enough, and Iona’s goalkeeper got in front the ball to keep the Gaels in the game.

Popp similarly came up big for the Crimson, stopping a last-second shot from afar.

“There was a stretch where [Popp] went almost 13 straight minutes without allowing a goal,” Voith said. “Any goalie who can put the team in a position to do that is going above and beyond his role.”

But in the fourth and final overtime, the game was finally decided. After Harvard was unable to capitalize on an early opportunity with a man up, Iona’s offense took it to the other end of the pool and, with 1:03 left on the clock, scored the night’s final goal.

After eight periods of play, the scoreboard read Iona 11, Harvard 10.

FORDHAM 13, HARVARD 5

In the Crimson’s conference opener, Fordham’s offense started strong and wouldn’t slow down.

“Anytime we allow more than 10 goals, we’re not giving ourselves the best opportunity to win,” Minnis said.

The Rams started the scoring early in the first period with a 3-0 run, and Harvard didn’t get on the board until Voith made a penalty shot in the second. Voith and Babic led the team in scores and assists for the game.

With about a minute left before halftime, Fordham was up by four, but after a controversial call against Harvard, the Rams took a shot at the buzzer that just made it past Popp to make the score 7-2.

The second half didn’t look much better for the Crimson, and despite seven saves by freshman goalkeeper Jimmy Field, the Rams continued to stretch the lead, finishing with the 13-5 victory.

The pair of games certainly didn’t have the outcomes Harvard was looking for, but Minnis put it in perspective.

“These are the things that are going to make us stronger and make us better,” he said. “We have to learn to lose the tough ones before we can win them.”

—Staff writer Madeleine Smith can be reached at smith21@college.harvard.edu.