Crimson Qualifies For Easterns

After two periods of regular overtime, the Harvard men’s water polo team found itself in an offensive battle with Iona. The two teams were tied at 10, and the Crimson’s offense needed a score in sudden death to take home third place.

Sophomore Chris Ludwick decided to take the matter into his own hands. On a six-on-five after freshman Danny Bilotti drew a kickout, Ludwick scored the game-winning goal, giving Harvard the win on his 20th birthday.

Along with a 10-4 win over Fordham on Saturday, the team erased the memories of what could have been a bad season. The team’s shaky regular season had been resuscitated with a two-game win streak two weekends ago, giving the Crimson (8-11) an easier first-round opponent at the Northern Championships.

But the wins would have been wasted if Harvard was unable to pull out a win over the Rams in the first round.

The win, driven by an offensive effort from six different scorers, earned the Crimson a spot at the next level of playoffs, the Eastern Championships.

Easterns will be hosted by Harvard, and it would have been unfortunate if the Crimson didn’t have a spot for itself. Instead, with the win, Harvard put itself in position to replicate last year’s success.

The Crimson’s four-game stretch of victories was ended Saturday night with a 5-3 loss to rival Brown.

HARVARD 11, IONA 10

After 34 minutes of play, Ludwick finally released Harvard from its longest game of the season.

The high-level of offensive output was unusual for the Crimson, which tallied 23 goals on the weekend.

“It was a real team effort,” captain Robbie Burmeister said. “It was a scrappy win. Any game that goes into sudden death could go either way and I think our guys wanted it more”

Burmeister helped keep the game close for Harvard in the cage. Though Iona had an opportunity to score on a six-on-five in sudden death, the shot skipped over the goal.

The Gaels tied the game with just seconds remaining the fourth quarter to send the contest into overtime.

“It wasn’t one of our better efforts,” junior Eric Byrd said, “but we were able to play well enough when we needed it to pull ahead.”

Harvard and Iona traded leads throughout the game. Though the Gaels drew first blood and went up by two, the Crimson fought back and had a two-goal lead during the fourth quarter.

“Of course we would have liked to have competed for the championship,” Burmeister said, “but to end with a tough win in overtime is a pretty awesome feeling.”

BROWN 5, HARVARD 3

With the win over Harvard, the Bears defeated the Crimson for the second of three meetings between the rivals this season.

Freshman Jay Connolly took to the cage for Harvard, tallying eight saves in the strong defensive effort.

“Jay played very well,” Burmeister said. “Our offense wasn’t really getting the shots we needed to get.”

Though the Crimson was able to hold Brown to just five goals, it couldn’t muster the same level of offensive output it had against Fordham and Iona.

“Brown was tough on the perimeter,” Burmeister said. “We were kind of stagnant.”

Harvard’s three goals were tallied by senior Greg Valiant, junior John Voith, and Ludwick.

Though the loss didn’t necessarily count much in terms of the season, it took Harvard out of contention for the title game.

HARVARD 10, FORDHAM 4

Eager to earn itself a spot at Easterns, the Crimson dominated the Rams in its first game of the tournament.

Garcia led the offense with three goals. Junior Alessandro Lazzarini and Ludwick tallied two apiece, while Valiant, sophomore Michael Byrd, and freshman David Tune each notched one.

“We countered them and we really played tough defense on the perimeter,” Burmeister said.

The total team effort was important since the Crimson had to play another game on the day.

“We played well and executed efficiently enough to get our starters out of there to rest up for the Brown game later in the day,” Byrd said.

Burmeister, the Crimson veteran, was in goal to ensure victory for Harvard, and he tallied nine saves.

The Crimson returns to action in two weeks at the Eastern Championships hosted at Blodgett Pool.

“We are all pretty excited about Easterns,” Burmeister said. “Especially since it’s at home.”

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