Huskies Humble Ruggers; Aquamen Place Fifth

It was supposed to be just another game in the Harvard rugby club's whirlwind roll through its Metro League competition.

The Crimson had already defeated Tufts and Boston College by the unfathomable margins of 68-0 and 33-0, respectively. Northeastern was supposed to be the next victim.

But N.U. didn't roll over in the face of its biggest league competition. Northeastern ran its advantage to 13-0 before the Crimson got in the game--and then it was too late to be playing catch-up ball. Despite a strong late-game surge, Harvard fell, 13-12, to N.U. Saturday at Magazine Beach in Boston. The loss should hurt the Crimson's regional standing heading into the New England Champion-ships early next month.

"We're still trying to figure this out," Harvard Captain John Green-berg said. "We were overconfident and we certainly didn't play as well as we did last week or the week before."

Northeastern (3-0-1 Metro League) recorded two trys at the end of the first half, and added a penalty kick just after halftime to give it a 13-0 edge. To add to Harvard's problems, lock Will Rava was ejected for a high tackle early in the second half, leaving the Crimson (3-1 Metro, 5-3 overall) a player short on the field.

"Anytime you lose a player, it wears the team down," Greenberg said. "We were playing a man down for most of the second half."

Scott Hilinksi and Bill Kessler scored trys for the Crimson in the closing minutes of the game, and senior Chris Crisera handled both conversions to pull Harvard within a point of the Huskies.

The Crimson has a two-game slate this weekend, traveling to Amherst Saturday and hosting George Mason Sunday at Soldiers Field.

Meanwhile, the Harvard "B" team racked up its fourth big win in a row, trouncing N.U.'s "B" squad, 52-0.

The Harvard men's water polo team did something this weekend that it has never done before: win two games at the Eastern Tournament.

It really doesn't matter where the Crimson, the nation's 19th-ranked team. finished in the eight-team tournament lield at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. (Harvard, which entered as the tournament's fourth seed, placed fifth).

It really doesn't matter that in its first game, the Crimson squandered a 5-2 lead against fifth-seeded Army. (Harvard fell to the Cadets, 11-6).

What mattered was that the Crimson (7-9 overall) won two games. That made all the difference.

"This was a very positive weekend," Captain Andy Freed said.

Okay, so it didn't start out that well against the troops from West Point. The Cadets went on a 9-1 run in the second half to capture the victory.

"We played a tremendous first quarter and got really overconfident," Freed said.

The next round was against Richmond. The Crimson chased the Spiders away, 15-4.

In the final game against Washington & Lee, Harvard, up 5-4 in the half, went on a 6-0 run and eventually won the game, 12-6.

"We worked out a lot of problems on offense. There was a lot more motion against Washington & Lee," Freed said. "Rather than just taking the shot, people started making the extra pass, unlike the Army game."

The Crimson can thank goalie Peter Toot for squashing the W & L attack when it really counted.

"It was definitely his best game of the season," Freed said.

The fifth-place earned the Crimson the sixth seed in next month's Eastern Championships, which will also be held in Annapolis.

Harvard will most likely face Brown, the third seed, in the opening round of that tournament. This weekend at Blodgett, the Crimson takes on the Bruins in a battle of Ivy rivals.

"It really doesn't matter if you're seeded third or sixth," Freed. "You're going to play the same way."

After dropping a tough four-set match to Cornell on Friday, the Harvard women's volleyball team faced an overnight bus ride late Friday night and then the Columbia Lions on Saturday. Traffic stalled the team en route to Manhattan, and the Crimson was forced to prepare hastily for its match.

The Crimson's late arrival may have contributed to its slow start against Columbia, as Harvard fell to the Lions in three sets.

"We are notorious for starting slowly. We were a little sluggish at the beginning of the game," Co-Captain Carolyn Burger said. "We let them get points early, which turned out to be the difference because all of the sets were close."

Problems

A major cause for the Crimson's loss on Saturday was the inefficiency of its offense, due in most part to its lackluster passing. Harvard (3-7 overall, 0-2 Ivy) failed to move the ball effectively on its side of the net and was unable to set and spike well.

"Our passing game was definitely our number-one problem," Burger said.

Although fatigue from the overnight bus trip affected the Crimson's game, the Lions were still tought hosts.

"They are a much-improved team. They added a lot of new girls to their squad who played well for them. They deserve credit for the win," Burger said.

Despite two losses on the road against Ivy squads, the Crimson remains optimistic about the rest of the season. Improvement is only a matter of time.

"We will improve. We have the talent to do well, but it is just a matter of putting all of the elements together and playing as a team," Burger said.