The Proof is in the Polo at Iona

When a team has lost seven of its first 10 games, one weekend shouldn't turn around a season.

It's amazing what five wins can do.

The Harvard men's water polo team radically reversed its fortunes this weekend, jumping to a plus-.500 team by sweeping the Northern League Tournament. On Saturday the Crimson (8-7, 8-7 CWPA) defeated Lehman 10-3, Villanova 13-7, and blanked Fordham 10-0.

It then crushed Iona 18-9 and toppled US Merchant Marine Military Academy on Sunday to claim the weekend.

"This was a big weekend for us," said captain Robinson Jacobs. "We hope to keep riding this high into our upcoming competition."

The weekend concluded Harvard's league regular season schedule. The victories, in particular the Iona win, guaranteed Harvard the No. 5 seed for the Northern Division Championships, the first stage in the NCAA playoffs scheduled for Oct. 30-31.

The top four teams from that eight-team field advance to the next stage, making the first round actually the most important. Harvard's seeding will bring Brown as an opening round opponent.

"We wanted to play Brown," Jacobs said. "Although we lost to them, [12-10] earlier this year we are confident we can beat them in the playoffs."

The focus of the weekend centered on Iona. The victory over the Gaels assured Harvard its Northern Division Championship seeding and, in all likelihood, a loss would have negated any momentum built by the other four victories.

The Crimson came out strong and dominated most of the match. Iona had drawn the score to 7-4 at the half, but Harvard was never in danger as it routed Iona in the second half, outscoring the Gaels, 11-5.

Freshmen drivers Alex Fisher and Michael Masterson led the way for Harvard. Masterson torched the Gaels for five goals while Fisher added a hat trick.

"I didn't expect to beat Iona by so much," said sophomore driver Michael Crosby. "We controlled the whole game as Fisher and Masterson were terrific. They are both strong players with speed. It was nice to see them get some goals."

Harvard clearly was the class of this tournament and Saturday's teams posed little challenge for the Crimson.

Lehman does not traditionally field strong teams and water polo is a club sport in Villanova.

Harvard actually used its B-squad to dispatch the Lightning and Wildcats, using more of its freshmen and resting some of its veterans for the battle against Iona.

"This was an important weekend for the freshmen," Fisher said. "We really started to become part of the team."

Fordham barely even showed up for its night match against the Crimson. The Rams had just seven players on its rosters and one was ejected during the early stages of the match.

If playing with six players wasn't daunting enough for the boys from the Bronx, another Ram was kicked out of the pool for excessive arguing with the referee.

After dispatching Iona on Sunday, USMMA proved a tougher challenge than expected, with the Crimson winning by only three, 12-9, to complete the sweep.

"We were a little tired in our last match," Jacobs said. "If we had played like we did against Iona, we would've destroyed them."

Harvard will return to action tomorrow against MIT at home. It will then rush from Blodgett Pool to Logan Airport for a red-eye flight to California. The Crimson will receive no rest early in its trip, playing the University of Redlands Thursday at 7 p.m.

"This was a fun weekend for us," Crosby said. "We played five strong games and everyone got to play. This was the best we've been all year."

With the playoffs around the corner, there's no better time to be peaking.