Crimson Takes Ninth Place at ECACs

After two difficult games, the Harvard men’s water polo team was able to bring home a victory, allowing them to take ninth on the last day of the 2009 ECAC Championships at DeNunzio Pool in Princeton, N.J.

The Crimson (3-8, 1-0 CWPA Northern Division) faced tough competition—falling 12-7 to George Washington Friday night and 8-4 to Fordham Saturday afternoon—but was able to pull it together by Sunday.

Harvard built momentum throughout the tournament, making improvements during each game. Despite the slow start, the Crimson was able to prove that the third time is a charm.

“Even though we had two tough first games, we were able to rally mentally,” junior co-captain Brett Voith said. “We were really able to turn around our performance and get us back on track of where we want to be heading into our league schedule.”

“Overall it was a little bit disappointing,” added co-captain Egen Atkinson, “But I think the team is ready to move on to practice this week, change a couple of things, and get a win on Saturday.”

HARVARD 15, CONNECTICUT COLLEGE 5

The Crimson was able to walk away from ECACs with a win Sunday morning against Connecticut College. After just one quarter, Harvard was in command, leading the Camels (0-3, 0-0 Northern Division) by a score of 4-1. The Crimson carried this momentum with them throughout the remaining quarters to finalize the 15-5 victory.

Sophomore Kevin DiSilvestro had an outstanding performance, recording a team-best four goals. Junior John Kolb added a number of steals and a timely goal that boosted the Crimson to the lopsided win. Junior Alex Thompson also drew many ejections, creating a few of Harvard’s key scoring chances.

Atkinson, Sophomore Mike Katzer, and Thompson each netted two goals, while Voith, sophomores Luka Babic and Evan Zepfel, and freshmen Max Eliot added one score a piece. Eliot enjoyed another strong tournament, building on his Northern Division Rookie of the Week honors from last week.

“Today’s game…we came out and showed we were the stronger team early, and we were able to run our system effectively against them,” Atkinson said.

FORDHAM 8, HARVARD 4

The Crimson came out with improved defense on Saturday afternoon but fell to Fordham for the second time this season. The Rams (6-6, 0-0 Northern Division) came out with a 4-1 lead over the Crimson. Harvard pulled within one point, sitting at 4-3, but the Rams seemed to find a rhythm and controlled the contest for the rest of the way, scoring four of the next five goals.

“We didn’t do a good job of executing our system on Saturday against Fordham and it showed,” Atkinson said.

Harvard was unable to capitalize on man-up chances, going 0-7 during 6-on-5 opportunities. The Crimson managed to get off 25 shots, but only four found the back of the net. Babic tallied two goals, while Atkinson and junior Jeff Lee chipped in with one goal each.

The defense was a bit stronger than the offensive efforts, led by sophomore goalie Alexandre Popp. Harvard held Fordham in check for most of the contest, largely due to Popp’s nine saves.

GEORGE WASHINGTON 12, HARVARD 7

Friday evening, George Washington University got even with Harvard following last week’s Princeton Invitational by sending the Crimson to a 12-7 loss to open the tournament.

Although Harvard notched its first victory of the season against the Colonials (4-9, 0-0 Southern Division) just a week ago, this time The Crimson did not appear ready to compete at the tournament’s first whistle.

“As a team, we didn’t do a good job of preparing ourselves mentally to play against GW in the first game,” Atkinson said.

Senior goalkeeper Nikhil Balaraman made seven saves, and senior Dan Furman, Thompson, Voith, DiSilvestro, and Eliot contributed to Harvard’s seven goals.

The Crimson endured what would continue to be a weekend-long struggle to make the most of man-up opportunities, finishing the game 2-for10 in 6-on-5 situations.

“In the first game, we really didn’t bring the intensity that we’d been bringing to practice on the daily basis and that showed,” Voith said.