Water Polo Team Falters at Easterns

After its 11-4 loss to Brown two weeks ago, the Harvard water polo team entered the Eastern Championships in Providence, R.I., this weekend seeded sixth of eight team.

And the Crimson proved its seeding prophetic, losing two of three games and showing no signs of revitalized play.

The going was rough from game one, when, matched against number-three seed Fordham, the aquamen lost an 8-7 heartbreaker, missing several scoring opportunities in the final minutes.

Despite splitting its remaining two games, the team never recovered and finished five places out of the running.

Brown, the tournament host and New England champion, ended up on top for the second weekend in a row, upsetting Loyola of Ohio in the finals, 4-3, to take the Eastern crown. With their one-two finish in Providence, both teams qualified for the nationals.

As a team, the aquamen's level of play was disappointing, but as usual several standouts emerged. Sophomore Steve Munatones led all Harvard scorers with six goals and seven assists, and co-captain Houston Hall contributed a six-goal effort in the Crimson's second game, a 16-8 win over Principia of Illinois.

Harvard had defeated Fordham by a convincing 14-7 margin in September, but the team the Crimson faced on Saturday was much improved. The New Yorkers took a 7-4 lead after three quarters, but in the fourth, the aquamen came back with goals from Hall. Munatones and Courtney Roberts.

Down by a goal with two minutes left to play. Harvard pelted the Fordham net with half a dozen shots but came up on the short end of an 8-7 score. Most frustrating of all, the Crimson finally managed to score at the buzzer on a Dave Fasi-to-Munatones pass play, but the referee ruled the shot had come too late.

Harvard's sole victory in the tournament came against Principia Saturday night. Munatones scored a hat trick to complement Hall's six tallies, and Fasi and senior John Fisher contributed two goals each. On defense, Mehmet Oz replaced starter Rich Reid in goal in the fourth quarter and, on the strength of five saves, shut out the Principia offense.

In a battle for fifth place, Harvard took on Washington and Lee College Sunday morning. The Crimson trailed throughout the game and once again succumbed, 11-8.

Erik Peterson led the way for Washington and Lee, scoring five times and proving altogether unstoppable. Fasi, Munatones and Phil Atkinson tallied two apiece for the aquamen, but it wasn't enough.

"The team didn't play well at all this weekend." Fasi said yesterday. "We fell behind early in both games that we lost and our rallies came up short."