In their third matchup of the season Friday night, the Harvard men’s water polo team (9-8, 7-1 CWPA Northern) put Brown (12-9, 5-1 CWPA Northern) back on its heels in Providence, R.I.

The Crimson looked to continue its five-game win streak coming off of a 16-5 win over Connecticut College, and accomplished its goal with a 12-10 victory against the Bears.

Sophomore Noah Harrison, freshman Joey Colton, and sophomore Ben Zepfel led Harvard with a hat-trick each, and Harrison and Colton both added 3 assists. Colton came away from the game with 2 steals as well.

The teams came into the game evenly matched, each having lost once and won once against each other.  In the most recent contest, the Crimson beat Brown, 6-5.

But Harvard was not about to let its most recent win over the Bears get to its head.

“We have to respect them regardless of the results of the past few times we played them,” Harrison said.

By halftime, Brown and the Crimson were tied at three.

“We stuck to our game plan,” Harrison said,  “But they put up a hell of a fight.”

The third quarter turned out to be the deciding factor.  Harvard exploded in an exciting show of offensive power, netting five goals.

“That’s when the offense really opened up,” Harrison said.  “We really started to get into our groove.”

Sophomore goalie Colin Woolway attributes some of the goals to players on the perimeter.

“We had drives through the middle of the pool,” Woolway said.  “We were able to open up space for our shooters on the outside.”

He also gives the centers credit for helping create offense.

“Ben Zepfel and John Holland-McCowan are really good at holding space,” Woolway said.  “Brown was dropping in on them a bit, but it opened up opportunities for our players to drive through and be wide-open for a goal.”

But the defensive line’s performance is not to be overlooked.