The Harvard men’s water polo team entered its match against then-No. 14 St. Francis with a 3-8 record, trying to get its season on the right track.

The Terriers had not lost a game at home since 2002 and had been one of the more dominant teams on the East Coast for years, but Harvard desperately needed a win to gain some momentum in late September.

The Crimson went down to St. Francis early in the contest, but came back with a strong 6-3 resurgence in the third quarter, eventually winning the contest, 14-11.

From there, the entire season changed.

“The big win at St. Francis was huge,” Harvard coach Ted Minnis said. “It would have been really easy for us to just be satisfied and say ‘that win defines our season,’ but we kept playing hard and kept playing against good teams and still [got] good results.”

The Crimson went on a seven-game winning streak—all against conference opponents—to improve to 10-8 on the season and 8-1 in CWPA Northern division competition.

Eventually, Harvard would go on a second seven-game streak in late October, which included another defeat of St. Francis, improving to 11-1 in conference play.

With its late-season surge, Harvard seized the regular season conference title and finished its 2013 campaign with an overall record of 18-14 and an home record of 7-1 at Blodgett.

“We achieved almost all of our goals,” Minnis said. “I was very proud of the way that we played this year…. We love playing here [at home], and we love the crowds that we get. We always want to make sure we are playing our best here.”

The Crimson eventually fell to St. Francis in the conference tournament—its only loss at home—but its second-place finish in the league was the highest spot that the team has claimed since 2004.

After having not made the national rankings since 2002, the team finished its season ranked 17th in the country, maintaining its spot in the national polls for a team-record eight straight weeks.

Having springboarded the program to its current success, Minnis garnered CWPA Coach of the Year recognition. Before this campaign, Harvard had not had a winning record since 2004, illustrating the magnitude of the team’s turnaround.

“This year was a major improvement from last season,” sophomore goaltender Colin Woolway said. “We made a major step up from a team with a lot of potential to a team that is truly competing with the best teams on the East Coast.”

Making its accomplishments all the more notable is the fact that the Crimson team is remarkably young.

Its seniors, though integral to the team’s chemistry and overall performance, were not the main contributors to the team’s efforts in the pool.

Co-captain attacker Will Roller missed many games this season due to injury, and fellow co-captain goaltender Jimmy Field split time with Woolway, who received the lion’s share of the playtime.

“[Roller and Field] have been amazing,” Minnis said. “They are two great leaders. They accomplished all of their goals and I couldn’t have asked for better.”

The vast majority of the team’s production came from its freshman and sophomore classes. Over half of the Harvard roster is composed of sophomores, including the top two scorers, attacker Noah Harrison and 2-meter Ben Zepfel.

In addition to leading the team with 70 goals, Harrison also had a team-high 69 steals. He was named to the All-CWPA second team, and Zepfel garnered first team accolades for the second straight year.

“The sophomore class came in last year with a bang,” Minnick said. “They came back this year and really just continued [what] they started. I am just happy we have them for two more years.”

Also integral to the team’s success was the play of its three freshmen.

Attacker Joey Colton led the team in assists, was second in steals, and was third in goals, also earning a spot on the All-CWPA second team.

Attacker Viktor Wrobel and 2-meter defender Dan Stevens both scored over 30 goals, putting them in the team’s top five scorers.

“We were by far the youngest team at our championship,” Harrison said. “Without a doubt, we are a growing and improving team, and as time goes on, we will continue to get better. Our youth is really going to help us to maximize our potential going forward into next year.”

—Staff writer Theo Levine can be reached at theo.levine@thecrimson.com.