Water Polo Goes 4 for 4, Gears Up for Brown

Harvard's water polo team captured four contests in less than 24 hours, sinking its opponents by a combined score of 64-22 at the two-day MIT Invitational tournament this weekend.

On Friday night, the Crimson, now 7-1, snuck by Yale, 18-6, at MIT's Alumni Pool. The swimmers continued to pour it on Saturday morning. UMass went down first, 15-2, followed by a more tenacious MIT, 12-7, and finally Princeton, 19-7.

Of the eight teams participating in the tournament, only Harvard and Brown defeated all four of their opponents. The Bruins are ranked second in the East--behind Fordham, which did not compete--while Harvard is rated third.

The Crimson's toughest challenge came from the MIT Engineers, who were out to avenge their 15-5 defeat at Blodgett Thursday night. Yet despite the home-pool advantage, MIT could not stop the strong and quick Harvard team.

Two players who have spearheaded the Crimson offense this year led the way. Sophomore David Fasi tallied five goals, and co-captain Houston Hall added three more.

On the weekend, Fasi topped all Harvard scorers with 20 goals. Coach Steve Pike apparently had the right idea when he told Fasi to shoot more this year.

"With Fasi scoring, Hall directing the offense, Steve Munatones swimming hard and keeping the offense moving, and strong contributions from the bench, we're going to be hard to stop this year," Pike said yesterday.

Up against relatively weak opposition, just about every Crimson player looked impressive in the other games this weekend. The aquamen seemed to score almost at will, while senior goalie Rich "The Wall" Reid came up with many fine saves. Whenever the team's play grew ragged, the exhortations of assistant coach Steve Lansberry spurred the swimmers on.

"This weekend's tourney gave us a good opportunity to play other teams in an invitational setting," Pike said. The aquamen welcome the practice, since they expect to face some sterner competition when they host an invitational of their own this weekend at Blodgett. Many of the same teams will be present--MIT, Yale, UMass, and Brown, which the Crimson will be meeting for the first time this season.

Both Harvard and Brown are undefeated in the East, and no one in New England has beaten the Bruins in the past six years. "Basically, the goal of our season is to beat Brown," Pike stated categorically.