M. Water Polo Makes History: Sinks Brown Behind 6 From Zim

The Harvard men's water polo team took a huge step last night toward fulfilling its hype as "the greatest team in Harvard history."

Led by junior Jeff Zimmerman's six goals, the Crimson defeated its traditional nemesis Brown, 12-10, and stamped itself as perhaps the best squad on the East Coast.

"The key to this game, and to our whole season, is the togetherness of the team," said an enthusiastic Coach Mike Freed. "In all aspects of the contest tonight, we were the sharper team."

From the opening whistle, the Harvard squad displayed sparkling transition defense against Brown's vaunted counterattack.

"Except for a few errant passes which helped the Bears, I thought we did an excellent job shutting the counterattack down. They really didn't have any other offensive weapons," said Freed.

The Crimson enjoyed a strong second quarter, breaking out of a 3-3 first period tie to seize a 7-4 halftime lead. At times in the second period, the Crimson looked almost playful with the Bears, keeping the ball away from the opponents and controlling the game's pace.

With three minutes left in the game, however, Harvard's victory was very much in doubt. The back-and-forth, furiously paced match was knotted at 9-9 following a strong second-half comeback by Brown.

Challenged by three quick Brown goals toward the end of the third quarter, Harvard faced the prospect of another disappointing defeat until freshman Julian Alexander put the Crimson back on top with a goal at the 2:30 mark.

After a few trips up and down the pool, the Crimson scored again to take an 11-9 lead, and Brown was forced to spend the last minute of the game in futile pursuit of the ball.

With the win, Harvard puts itself in an excellent position for the rest of the season. The Eastern Championships, to be held in early November at Annapolis, to be held in early November at Annapolis, Md., now appear winnable for the first time in years.

Traditional East Coast powerhouse Slippery Rock defeated Brown by only one goal last week, and the Crimson win last night gives Freed hope that Harvard can take the top spot. "We will beat Slippery Rock," proclaimed the ever-confident coach, who called the victory over Brown (Harvard's first since 1972) "a new birth."

A never-say-die attitude marks this year's squad as special, according to Co-Captain Chad Barker.

"The biggest difference between this season and the last three is that now we never give up. We used to get down sometimes when games were in doubt, but I didn't sense any of that tonight," the Mather House senior said.

Heartening words for Harvard water polo fans, no doubt.