M. Water Polo Shreads East

It was sports' traditional Gatorade bath in reverse.

After clinching a spot in the Eastern Championships for the first time in almost a decade, the Harvard men's water polo players celebrated in front of a packed house at Blodgett by throwing their coach, Jim Floerchinger, into the pool.

It was the season's most enduring image, and certainly an appropriate symbol for the season. After a grueling offseason training program and two-a-day practices in September, the 2000-2001 Crimson (23-11, 11-6 CWPA) enjoyed its best season in almost a decade. The team finished third at the Northern Championships-easily bettering last year's seventh-place finish-to advance to Easterns for the first time in eight years.

"We accomplished everything we wanted to this year," said team captain Tom Elke. "Our goal was to make Easterns, and we did."

Along the way, the Crimson secured its place as one of the best team's in the program's history. Harvard stormed out of the gate by defeating Brown during its first weekend of play. It was the first time the Crimson had beaten the Bears in eight years.

Later on in the season, the team duplicated that feat, beating Brown in New York with a group of alums in the stand, including former All-American Mike Zimmerman '98. Zimmerman got the opportunity to watch a potent and balanced scoring attack in action. The pre-eminent threats on the attack were junior Mike Crosby, sophomores Mike Masterson and Istvan Zollei and senior Grant Garrigues. Freshman 2-meter Todd Schulte also made an immediate impact in his first season.

But Harvard depth was such that the lineup had no real weak spots.

"This year, every single player on our team was a scoring threat," said senior utility player Josh Bleisath. "That really cut holes in opposing defenses and opened up better scoring chances for our star players."

But perhaps the high point of the season was an 11-game winning streak the Crimson put together that lasted for almost a month. The run began with what players called the team's biggest win in ten years, a 6-5 triumph over Navy.

Navy entered the North-South Invitational ranked No. 16 in the nation. The Crimson, hovering around No. 20, gave the Midshipmen all they could handle and more, outlasting them in a low-scoring battle for the ages, 6-5. In a game in which transitional points were at a premium, junior 2-meter Sean Cheng stepped up in the middle. He contributed three goals, including the game-winner with just over 90 seconds remaining in regulation.

The victory, coupled with a close loss to Princeton, set the stage for the 11-game tear, one in which the benefits of the Crimson's strenuous preseason workout regimen became obvious. Harvard also held the opposition to single-digit scoring throughout that stretch, a testament to the team's strength in net.

Most water polo teams are fortunate to have one starting-caliber goalie on their squads. In junior Gresham Bayne and Paul Tselentis, the Crimson had two. The impact of their presence went beyond blocking shots.

"We knew that we had two of the best goalies in the East Coast," Bleisath said. "We didn't feel pressure to score every time down the pool, so our game became much more relaxed and smarter."

At different points of the year, they were each limited by injuries. Bayne played most of the year with his arm in a brace, the result of a previous career-threatening injury.

"Gresham was phenomenal," Elke said. "He came through despite several serious medical conditions."

And midway through the season, Tselentis suffered a frightening seizure that forced Bleisath into emergency goalkeeping chores for several games.

The Crimson still overcame these obstacles to beat Brown one last time at Easterns to clinch the third and final berth to Easterns. Although Navy got its revenge in the first round-ousting the Crimson from NCAA contention with a 15-5 beating-and Princeton continued its success against Harvard with a 7-6 consolation win, the Crimson can still call the season an overall success.

With the Crimson losing only Garrigues among the regular starters, the departing seniors see only good things ahead. Bayne and Crosby will step into co-captaincy roles next year and lead a team that has already learned the value of preparation.

"Gresham Bayne and Mike Crosby will accept nothing less than hard work, discipline, and wins from next year's team," Bleisath said. "Harvard Water Polo is on its way up."