Bruins Drown Aquamen, 11-3; Come Within Splash of Upset

For the fourth consecutive year, Harvard and Brown played for the New England Water Polo Championship. For the fourth time in four years Brown won.

The defeat last night at Blodgett Pool was especially frustrating for the Crimson's senior Co-Captains Dave Fasi and Steve Munatones, who were playing in their last home game. The duo, the two leading scorers in Harvard history, had to watch the final minute of the game together on the pool deck after Fasi was thrown out of the contest and Muntones fouled out.

Brown looked better and Harvard worse than in either of their two previous meetings this season. Both squads played strong first halves and after 14 minutes the Bruins had a 4-2 advantage. The third and fourth quarters were all Brown. "It was like two games," Harvard Assistant Coach Peter Lansbury said.

On Saturday, Harvard trounced Yale and the University of Massachusetts, 16-6 and 16-5. Despite the similar scores, the games were markedly different. In its opener against the Elis the Crimson rolled to a 9-0 advantage behind Fasi, who had five goals and an assist in the first period.

Against the Minutemen the Crimson started off slowly. Owning only a 4-3 lead at the end of the first quarter, Harvard rallied behind sophomore Rob Strauss, who pumped in seven goals to blow out UMass in the final three periods.

Despite this impressive performance against New England's third best team, the Crimson was outclassed by the Bruins. Brown was anchored by its goalie, sophomore Lars Enstrom. "He's the best goalie in the East," according to Lansbury and he certainly exhibited all-star form in making numerous big saves to deny Harvard in the first half.

The Bruins' second half surge was aided by a pair of penalty shots and poor Crimson shooting. Overall, Harvard shot a meager 18 percent and Fasi and Munatones were unable to net a single score.

The Crimson travels to the Naval Academy next weekend for the Eastern Championships and a likely rematch with Brown. The Bruins are favored to win the tourney, but if Harvard could claim the second spot it might earn a bid along with Brown to the NCAA tournament. THE NOTEBOOK: The loss dropped the Crimson's record to 19-6 Brown upped its slate to 23-3.... The Bruins earned their victory despite the absence of stars Mike McDiarmid and David Todhunter.