After nearly three weeks of preseason practices and intra-squad scrimmages, the Harvard men were more than ready to start the season and face the Engineers by the time Saturday morning rolled around.

But, according to Minnis, this excitement may have actually hurt the Crimson in the first quarter.

“We had been doing two-a-days all month and six of our guys had never played in a college game—we were ready to play someone else,” Minnis said. “Everyone was so revved up that we missed eight shots in the first quarter.”

Once the team settled, Harvard was able to execute its plays much more effectively, scoring five goals in the second quarter alone.

After graduating its top three scorers from last season, the Crimson proved it will have to rely on its depth, rather than star power, to have a successful season this fall.

“We are a way deeper team than last year and are able to use quick subbing rotations,” Minnis said. “We slowed [MIT] down until the fourth quarter rolled around. We were fresh and countering and they couldn’t keep up.”

Eight Crimson players put up points in the MIT game, including Luka Babic, Kevin DiSilvestro, Max Eliot, Will Roller, and Evan Zepfel, who all scored two goals apiece.

“Where we are right now is leaps and bounds ahead of where we were last year at the end of the season,” Popp said. “We just need to keep working hard at practice and take a step forward everyday and, hopefully, by the end of November, we will by playing our best water polo at Easterns.”

—Staff writer Patrick Galvin can be reached at pgalvin@college.harvard.edu.