M. Water Polo Upsets Princeton

At the North-South Invitational in Princeton, N.J., the Harvard men’s water polo team brought home three wins and two losses, including an important win over No. 12 Princeton.

The first game of the weekend on Friday night was the most intense, exciting game for the No. 17 Crimson. After the contest went into triple overtime in the second sudden-death of the game, freshman Mike Gerrity scored for the Crimson. Gerrity’s goal ultimately gave the Crimson an 11-10 lead and the win. The lead was constantly changing hands throughout the match, but Harvard held on in in the end, beating the Tigers for the first time in several years.

“I was really proud of the team because we stuck in there,” said co-captain Michael Crosby. “I was really happy that we were able to fight to the end.”

Saturday’s activities were less eventful, as the Crimson lost two of the three games it played. In the morning game against Bucknell, the team came out a little rusty, but the Bisons were even rustier. Harvard’s goalies played especially well, helping the Crimson win, 7-2. Harvard dominated the whole game, recording 20 shots on goal to support the defense’s hard work.

The energy from the victory over Princeton appeared to come to a halt, however, in the second game of the day against Navy. In a disappointing defeat, Harvard lost, 10-5.

“We tactically should have been able to shut [Navy] down, but we didn’t really come out very strong,” Crosby said.

Navy took an early lead, and Harvard couldn’t bounce back and play as hard as it had against Princeton.

Coming off of the loss to Navy in the afternoon, Harvard seemed to have overcome its hard times and enjoyed a strong start in the first half against Johns Hopkins during its fourth game of the weekend. But in the second half, a series of mental errors broke the Crimson’s rhythm, and Harvard ultimately lost, 7-4.

But showing the strength that the team has displayed so often this year, the squad bounced back in the morning and went on to trounce George Washington University, 13-5. The game against the Colonials did not pose as much of a challenge to the Crimson as other games of the weekend, but it was still reassuring for the team to get the win after two losses.

“We did a much better job sticking to what we know,” Crosby said.

“It was good to beat Princeton, but we were disappointed in general,” said junior Alex Fisher. “If we get back to what we were doing, we’ll be fine and we’ll keep on improving.”

It was a tough weekend for the Crimson, but what was clear by the end was that nothing is set in stone for the East Coast Championship this year. The University of Massachusetts squad, who defeated the Crimson earlier this season, lost to Princeton this weekend, while Princeton lost to Harvard. There are several teams, including Harvard, that are in the running for the Eastern title. The Crimson will next compete at MIT on Wednesday night.