{shortcode-41233dde927a2532d817a6f150d924c7cd62a3be}

No. 17 Harvard mens’ water polo (19-9, 9-1 NWPC) will share the Northeast Water Polo Conference Regular Championship title with No. 14 Princeton University, following the Crimson’s 2-1 record during its closing conference weekend tripleheader.

Harvard defeated its New Jersey rivals by one goal earlier this season, but the Tigers snapped the Crimson’s conference winning streak to claim the first seed heading into the NWPC Conference Championship.

Junior utility Jack Burghardt scored back-to-back double hat tricks to defeat Iona and Long Island on Saturday.

Entering as the second seed, the Crimson will have a bye-game before playing in the second round on Nov. 22 for a chance in the championship match the day after. Harvard is a three-time NWPC Champion, the most recent title in 2019 after the Crimson secured an undefeated conference record.

For Head Coach Ted Minnis, the outcome of the tripleheader wasn’t ideal, but still showed his team’s effort.

“We played 12 hard quarters,” Minnis said. “The worst case scenario was we wanted to go 2-1, and that’s what happened.”

“I’m just proud of my guys today. They battled really hard. We came back from adversity, and we did a really good job,” he added.

No. 17 Harvard 22, Long Island University 9

Harvard embarked on a 6-0 run in the first quarter against Long Island University (4-28, 0-8 NWPC) and never looked back.

The Crimson never led by less than six goals for the rest of the game, rolling by Long Island in an overpowering 22-9 victory led by juniors utility Jack Burghardt and attacker Jacob Tsotadze — who scored six and five goals respectively.

Junior goalie Oliver Price recorded over 10 saves for Harvard. On the opposing side, the Sharks struggled to find an optimal defensive strength and conceded six power plays and five penalties — which made up half of the Crimson’s goals.

Tsotadze and Long Island exchanged power-play goals early, but the Crimson went on to score three consecutive goals, including two power plays converted by Burghardt and sophomore attacker Lukas Peabody.

High defensive pressure from the Crimson forced the Sharks to fire shots easily recollected or saved by Price. Tsotadze converted his second goal from outside the key, and Price finished the first quarter with four saves.

Junior attacker Vilas Sogaard-Srikrishnan converted Harvard’s third power-play goal before Long Island rebounded and scored its second. A penalty conversion by sophomore attacker Dean Strauser closed the quarter at 7-2.

Strauser and Tsotadze converted back-to-back penalties. Three goals exchanged back-and-forth, including a fourth penalty goal for Harvard, brought the score to 12-5.

Long Island’s attempt to respond to Harvard’s pressure resulted in several overthrown passes, easily collected for redistribution by Price. Peabody took advantage of a power play to wind up and fire through the Sharks’ defensive roles, and Burghardt elevated himself to receive and score his hat trick.

The Crimson also had success with deep passes, finding freshman attacker Connor Kim for a 14-5 lead to finish the second quarter.

Scoring levelled out in the third quarter, but the Sharks’ deficit remained. Burghardt went on a 3-1 run to complete his second hat trick and defensively, Price conceded one penalty but saved three consecutive attacks.

Long Island had its turn with a power play, connecting backpost to end its scoring drought at 17-8. Senior attacker Mason Hunt scored for Harvard, and both teams slowed down offensively soon afterward, struggling with shot clock violations and fouls.

The saves and missed shots continued into the fourth, until Strauser and the Sharks exchanged goals. Scoreless for the rest of the game, the Sharks winded their own shot clock down with missed shots, two of which Price saved. Tsotadze scored two, and Vilas Sogaard-Srikrishnan scored a final penalty.

Harvard’s high defensive pressure rejected the Sharks till the end, finishing the game at 22-9.

No. 17 Harvard 18, Iona University 8

Junior attacker Bradford Dickson’s four steals and senior goalie Tanner Furtak’s nine saves led Harvard’s dominant defensive performance against Iona (8-15, 4-5 NWPC) on Saturday evening, holding the Gaels to just four goals in the first three quarters.

Burghardt scored at least six goals for the third consecutive game. The Gaels scored their game-high of three goals in a single quarter during the fourth, but freshman attacker Emil Sogaard-Srikrishnan scored four of his five goals to close out the Crimson’s 18-7 victory.

“I think we won our one-on-one battles — that’s what we’ve talked about all year,” Minnis said. “I think defensively, this was probably our best weekend overall for a three game stretch. I don’t think anyone scored double digits.”

Burghardt broke into his favorite central receiving location and drew a penalty, which Strauser converted to open the scoring. The Gaels secured a defensive stop, allowing sophomore center Pavle Musikic to finish a no-look backwards shot for the tie.

Furtak’s five first-quarter saves rewarded the Crimson defensively, allowing Harvard to pull ahead with the lead, despite multiple saves by Iona’s senior goalie Aleksandar Slavkovic.

Iona’s defensive patience repelled attempted entry passes and forced the Crimson to carefully select its chances around the perimeter.

Yet, Harvard finished the quarter with a 3-0 run, with goals contributions from freshman attacker Connor Kim in a four-on-six and sophomore defender Tyler Hogan’s lofted shot.

The Gaels broke through first in the second quarter, scoring a deep outside shot secured by two consecutive defensive stops.

Both defenses held firm, thanks to steals from Peabody and Burghardt as well as another one-on-one save by Slavkobic.

Securing another steal in its next possession, Harvard propelled Burghardt on a fastbreak for a 6-2 lead. Iona quickly responded by sailing a pass past Harvard’s defense, but Burghardt jousted with the Gaels until he found space for his second goal.

A classic entry pass assisted Burghardt’s second quarter hattrick. The teams exchanged a series of turnovers and saves, ending the quarter 8-3.

Burghardt scored his fourth then assisted Peabody’s tap-in, but the Gaels responded quickly with a goal.

Two steals by Dickson held Iona scoreless for the rest of the quarter — while the Crimson embarked on a 3-0 run for a 13-4 lead.

Peabody also had a dominant quarter, recording a block during an open net, scoring a skip-shot, and assisting Emil Sogaard-Srikrishnan in three consecutive possessions.

To end the fourth quarter, Emil Sogaard-Srikrishnan scored four consecutive goals, including a penalty. Iona responded with its sixth and seventh, with Iona’s sophomore goalie PJ Bartzen and Price each recorded three saves. The Gaels’ goal in the final seconds ended the game at 18-8.

No. 17 Harvard 9, No. 14 Princeton 12

In Harvard’s final conference game of the season — and the deciding game for the NWPC Championship’s first seed — rivals Princeton (21-9, 9-1 NWPC) held the Crimson to its lowest goals scored so far in a game this season.

Still, the game proved to be a closely-contested clash, with the Crimson displaying glimpses of comeback runs necessary to defend its undefeated conference record and an outright regular season title.

The Crimson was also missing a key weapon in Burghardt — who was out due to injury.

Ultimately, Princeton scored a dagger in the final minutes to stall Harvard’s final comeback attempt and defeated the Crimson 9-12.

Before the game, Furtak and Hunt were recognized as part of Senior Day.

“It’s been a decade of water polo and coming to an end soon, but I’m taking every game day by day and really grateful,” Furtak said.

Minnis said that the seniors have been “a big part of this program.”

“My seniors have done a great job over the last four years,” Minnis said. “We’re going to miss them, and they’re going to be very proud of the legacy that they leave here after we take care of our business.”

With Burghardt’s absence, Peabody stepped up to lead the Crimson’s scoring with a hat trick. Six players netted goals for Harvard.

The Tigers struck first with patience, finding an inside pass and key shot for the 2-0 lead. Princeton’s defense held firm, blocking three successive shots, which Hunt responded to with two blocks of his own for the Crimson’s backline.

His second block made way for Strauser to convert a four-on-six power-play goal to end the first quarter.

A power-play goal opened Princeton’s scoring in the second, with junior goalie Kristóf Kovács saving two consecutive shots. Harvard took its time to maintain possession and gained rebounds, but its second-chance shots fell short to Princeton’s defense.

Harvard rebuilt momentum at the end of the second to compensate for Princeton’s next two goals, with Tsotadze beating three defenders to score Harvard’s second. Forcing a shot clock violation from Princeton, the Crimson quickly rebuilt for Strauser to finish a power play for a 3-5 deficit.

The Crimson stayed in the fight, exchanging a goal with Princeton early in the third. But entry pass combination plays helped Princeton pull ahead with another two, with Harvard stalled due to Kovacs’s saves and missed shots.

Furtak held Harvard’s defense with three saves in the quarter, before Kim’s outside shot and Dickson’s second-chance conversion reenergized Harvard’s offense.

A costly steal at the top of Harvard’s key led to the Tigers’ fastbreak goal, and a defensive stop held their lead at 6-10.

“Princeton’s really good, so I thought we did a good job of keeping them real early,” Minnis said. “They kind of got away in the third quarter.”

Princeton swarmed to diffuse Harvard’s entry pass opportunities, and Kovács blocked a one-on-one opportunity. Second-chance conversions for the Tigers ticked time off the clock, but Peabody made up for lost time and scored two.

Harvard shifted to one of many adjustments through the game, positioning a roaming player in its offensive half. The adjustment was initially rewarded by Hunt’s steal leading to a power-play goal.

But Princeton sealed a dagger with a buzzerbeater, finding a deepshot for the last goal of the game. Kovács led Princeton’s closing defensive stand to deny Harvard’s seventh attacker, and the game finished 9-12.

A slot in the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championships is on the line in two weekends, with the NWPC Champion gaining an automatic bid onto the national stage.

“We’ve been saying all year long, these regular season games mean little to nothing for us,” Furtak said. “We have our eyes on the championship, and that comes in the next two more games.”