Harvard Tops Camels in Season Finale

The Harvard men’s water polo team concluded a bumpy season with a demonstrative 20-12 win over Connecticut College (0-8, 0-7 CWPA), showing its true abilities heading into the playoffs.

After dropping eight straight early on, the Crimson looked to close out the regular season on a high note.

“We had some rough times this season, with a nine-game losing streak, but we showed a lot of resilience,” Harvard co-captain David Tune said. “I think we are right where we need to be heading into the playoffs,”

Feeding off the triumphant energy of last weekend’s dominating win against Queens College and the celebratory fanfare of Senior Day, the squad rolled into New London on a wave of momentum.

The Crimson (4-10, 3-4 CWPA), which has met the Camels in the regular season every year since 2000, kicked off the rivalry eight years ago with an 11-0 performance. This marked the last time the men’s squad shut out an opponent and, in their eight year history, Harvard has outscored Conn. College 115 to 28.

The Camels have been hungry for a win since the beginning of the season, looking to punctuate this year’s setbacks with a win at home. After another rough start, Conn. College was eager to show it could remain competitive.

Both teams fielded a young roster of underclassmen. The Camels were led by lone senior, Nick Llewellyn, who carries the burden of the team’s offensive attack, while the Crimson squad is led by co-captains Tune and Jay Connolly, fronting a strong base of freshman and sophomore talent.

“We are a young team and we were learning this season,” Connolly said. “Now I think we finally found a grove.”

Although the win only put a dent in the team’s losing record, the match sets the tone as the squad heads into the playoffs after a tumultuous regular season.

Harvard opened up the game aggressively, scoring 13 times in the first half. Tune posted five goals while sophomore Bret Voith matched with five goals of his own. Sophomore Jeff Lee wasn’t far behind, finding the back of the net four times.

The offensive attack was characterized by an all-around team effort, with junior Egen Atkinson posting two goals, freshman Luka Babic scoring one goal and junior Thomas Bailey tallying one as well.

“We did way better this game seeing each other in the water,” Connolly said. “We complimented each other really well and generated some momentum on offense.”

Crimson play was marked by a less than stellar defensive effort. Harvard held the Camels to five goals in the first half but dropped seven goals in the second.

“I’m glad we did what we needed to do, but we needed to stop them from scoring,” Tune said. “Twelve goals is a lot for a water polo game. So were not really happy about that. We need to improve defense, we let them score way too many times.”

The troubled defense found relief in the form of stellar goaltending with all three Crimson goalies seeing net time. Connolly started the game, posting six stops, quashing any Camel momentum immediately. Junior Nikhil Balaraman had two stops, while freshman Alexandre Popp recorded two saves.

Harvard ends the regular season 4-10 overall and 3-4 in the Northern Division. The young team saw this season as a learning process.

“We played some good polo and some not so good polo, but the team was really learning this season and now we have some really important games to show what we’ve learned,” Harvard coach Eric Farrar said.

With the conclusion of the regular season, the team is fine tuning its game heading into the playoffs.

“We played some good solid transition water polo, but we have to be better defensively going into the playoffs,” Farrar said. “Everything we’ve done up to this point is focused on getting in position for Northerns.”

Based on the improvements it has made this season, the team is also looking for some redemption in the division championships.

“We got beat this season by some teams we should have beaten, now in the playoffs we have a chance to get some payback,“ Farrar said.

With this win, Harvard jumps into fourth place in the Northern Division breaking the three way tie for fifth place. The squad shares fourth place with division rival MIT, but with a Crimson win over the Engineers earlier in the season, Harvard solidly holds the position.

The team now patiently waits for its seed in the upcoming Northern Division Championships.