Close Losses Sink M. Water Polo at ECACs

The numbers on the scoreboard didn’t even change at the end of the game. The sign read 10-10 with no time left.

Even though the Harvard men’s water polo team had lost by one to No. 13 Navy in the opening game of the ECAC championships—a tournament with all the top teams on the East Coast—the scoreboard continued to read 10-10, refusing to acknowledge a last-second goal the Crimson swimmers couldn’t quite believe either.

Throughout the four periods of highly competitive play, 10th-seeded Harvard (2-4) had been giving the packed stands at Blodgett Pool something to cheer about. The clear underdog in the match-up against No. 1 seed Navy, Harvard was two seconds away from forcing an extra frame against the Midshipmen. But on a controversial goal in the last moments of the game, Navy took the victory.

The final tally, which some thought came after the buzzer sounded, was declared invalid at first by one of the referees on the side of the pool, and the Crimson thought it would get a chance to win in overtime. But after consulting for several moments, the two officials decided the goal would count, robbing Harvard of its first big-game win this season.

But the scoreboard remained unchanged, and the Crimson players climbed out of the pool and stood in front of the stands, as the fans continued to cheer them on.

“When the guy shot and they called it a goal, I was a little bit shocked that they counted it,” sophomore John Voith said.

A two-goal win over No. 20 Bucknell in its penultimate game would have allowed the Crimson to advance to the championship, but a 6-5 loss placed Harvard third in its bracket, and left it with opportunity to play for only seventh place.

St. Francis, the same team that defeated Harvard last weekend, took home the championship. Bucknell and Navy placed second and fourth, respectively.

The Crimson’s offensive efforts did not go unnoticed, however, as both senior co-captains Rick Offsay and Mike Gerrity were named to the coaches’ All-Tournament First and Second Teams, respectively.

Harvard now has a week and a half off to prepare for its next contest, when it will have a rematch against MIT on Oct. 6.

“We got to see what we are made of this weekend,” Offsay said. “Now we get to go back, prepare, and take care of business, and then show everyone what we learned from that.”

MIT 8, HARVARD 6

In its final game of the championship, Harvard seemed to lose its fire.

The team that was once poised to play in the championship game was now playing for seventh against MIT, and its performance was nowhere near the caliber it had been on opening day of the ECAC Championships.

“Water polo is a really demanding sport physically as well as mentally, so I think we just need to continue to work on making the right decisions and executing when we are tired,” said junior goaltender Robbie Burmeister.

The disappointments of the prior two days seemed to have worn down the players. The team has been through a tumultuous off-season, which left them little time to prepare for the games in the first two weeks.

“The team has been through some traumatic changes,” Voith said. “We haven’t had time to gel together and form a true identity yet.”

MIT goalie Danny Malconian continually sent the Crimson offense away disappointed, and shut it down for nearly 14 minutes.

In the final period, Harvard was down 6-4 until an undefended Voith dashed to the other side of the pool and scored. Offsay tallied another goal for the Crimson shortly thereafter, tying the game at six.

But Engineer David Lohrey sent a goal past Burmeister with two minutes left, giving MIT the lead.

Harvard was unable to execute and score, despite an opportunity on a power play.

MIT sealed the victory with another goal, and the Crimson was unable to come back from the two-goal deficit with less than a minute to play.

BUCKNELL 6, HARVARD 5

After the heart-breaking loss to Navy on Friday, the Crimson still had a chance to win the ECAC if it could defeat Bucknell by two goals in its second game on Saturday.

“We did lose some close games this weekend,” Voith said. “I don’t expect us to lose a close game like that again for the rest of the season.”

Gerrity drew first blood for Harvard, netting a goal in the first period, and notching two more on the day.

A goal by Offsay in the second period gave Harvard a 4-2 lead, but the Bison silenced the Crimson offense for the next seven minutes. Bucknell scored twice in the third until Gerrity was able to eke out a goal with just 0:14 left in the third.

Bucknell’s Nick Ferring scored the winning goal for the Bison in the fourth when a Harvard defensive mistake left him open.

“We have a few things to work on,” Offsay said. “We learned we’re as good as the second place and fourth place teams though.”

HARVARD 11, QUEENS 4

Harvard’s offense voraciously attacked the Knights in the two teams’ second meeting of the season. The Crimson carved out a 6-0 lead in the first period and Queens never recovered.

Offsay and senior Greg Marvin-Smith each scored two goals in the effort. Sophomores Mike Garcia and Borna Dabiri and juniors Eugen Taso and Greg Valiant also contributed goals for Harvard.

NAVY 11, HARVARD 10

Although Navy seized an early 2-0 lead, Harvard held Navy scoreless for the remaining three minutes of the frame.

Though down by two, the Crimson offense continued to play with a confident and relaxed pace, taking its time making passes and running the shot clock down.

Its patience paid off, and the offense was jump started with a goal by Offsay, the first of three consecutive Harvard goals. The other two goals were scored by Marvin-Smith and Voith, giving Harvard a 3-2 lead before the first period was up.

The Midshipmen responded with three uncontested goals of their own, shutting the Crimson offense down for much of the second period.

Offsay refused to let Navy hold on to its 5-3 lead for long, and tied the game by netting two goals before the half.

Burmeister kept Harvard in the game by making spectacular saves, even when shots were fired on him at close range.

A timely goal by sophomore Alessandro Lazzarine with just 0:35 left on the clock tied the game at 10 a piece.

On Navy’s final drive, a penalty was called which stopped the clock with only a few seconds to go.

The Midshipmen were nearing the goal when the horn to signal the end of the game sounded. The Crimson defense let its guard down, and a Navy player slid the ball into the goal for the controversial win.

“The buzzer went off and we assumed the game was over,” Offsay said. “The referees determined that when the ball was put back in play [after the penalty], the goal was scored before time ran out, which is unfortunate.”

—Staff writer Megha Parekh can be reached at parekh@fas.harvard.edu.