SEASON RECAP: Harvard Struggles in Division Play

The Harvard men’s water polo team showed marked improvement through the 2008 season, but the Crimson could not manage to demonstrate its growth in the win column. The young squad struggled often in its fall campaign, amassing a 5-12 (3-5 ECAC) record before ending the season with a sixth-place finish at the Northern Division Championships at MIT in November.

“We’re definitely not satisfied with the outcome this past season,” junior Egan Atkinson said, referring to the regression in the team’s record following a 14-16 effort in 2007. “In terms of the trajectory of the team, though, we’re much better.”

Harvard certainly hopes to take some positives out of a difficult year, which included heartbreaking overtime losses to then-No. 19 Brown at home in October and to MIT in the Northern Championships.

Although the Crimson began the year 2-1 and looked to be adjusting well to head coach Erik Farrar’s new system, the squad struggled mightily with transition defense, prompting an eight-game losing streak. But rather than give into frustration, Harvard tightened its play and went 3-3 over its final six games, an encouraging sign for 2009.

“Guys for the most part tried to focus on what we weren’t doing well,” sophomore Bret Voith said. “We didn’t necessarily see the results of our adjustments within the season, but…beginning next August I think there will be improvements.”

New captains Atkinson and Voith will lead the charge after enjoying breakout seasons for the Crimson, earning Most Improved Player and the Coaches’ Award respectively at the team banquet. But while Harvard graduates only two seniors, it will lose crucial contributors in co-captains Jay Connolly and David Tune.

“David and Connolly are going to be completely irreplaceable,” Atkinson said. “Those guys were huge to this team in many ways. They were superior leaders but also outstanding water polo players.”

Connolly—a two-time All-Northern Division goalie—notched 113 saves in his final season, as well as his first goal, often keeping an overwhelmed defense in the game.

For his part, Tune anchored the offense from his utility position. The standout bore the brunt of opposing defenses by occupying the middle of the offensive zone and routinely shrugged off defenders to net 31 goals in 18 games.

“Last year [Tune] was incredible,” Voith said. “He was there day in and day out…and he and Jay were both phenomenal.”

While the captains carried much of the load for the Crimson during the season, the squad’s youth also demonstrated tremendous talent. Team Rookie of the Year Luka Babic tallied 12 goals on the season, and Voith added 20 in only his second campaign.

With a strong youth movement and another year of experience with a new system, the Crimson can anticipate a successful turnaround in the fall.

But it will have to accomplish its goals without the help of two program stalwarts. Assistant coaches Ellen Estes Lee and Rick Offsay will depart after two and eight years with the team, respectively, with four of Offsay’s coming as a player. Whereas Farrar credits Offsay with influencing two generations of Harvard water polo players, he also points to Lee’s experience as a two-time Olympian as a driving force behind any improvement.

“It’s impossible to overstate the impact [these coaches] have had,” Farrar said. “We have a giant vacuum where two of the very best assistant coaches in the NCAA used to be.”

The squad will undoubtedly feel the loss of both its coaches and key seniors, but Voith summarized Harvard’s optimism that a disappointing season will not go to waste.

“I think that no one on our team is happy with how we did,” he said. “But in the scheme of things, all the returning players will use last year as motivation going forward to make sure that we make significant improvements for next season.”

—Staff writer Max N. Brondfield can be reached at mbrondf@fas.harvard.eduBut