Harvard Takes Two Of Three on The Road

What a difference a couple of hours can make.

The Harvard men’s water polo team traveled to Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. and New London, Conn. this weekend, facing tough competition but coming out of the battles with two wins.

The Crimson (8-13, 2-4 CWPA North) suffered its worst defeat of the season, going down, 23-7, to the No. 15 St. Francis Terriers, but then turned the momentum around to pull off victories against Queens a few hours later that day and Connecticut College yesterday.

It was the second time this season the Crimson has won back-to-back games, the first time being a quadruple-overtime win against MIT and a 12-8 triumph over Occidental.

“I think overall it was a good team performance this weekend,” co-captain Bret Voith said. “The loss against St. Francis was one of our worst losses of the season, but I think we had a strong team performance against the other two teams.”

HARVARD 20, CONNECTICUT COLLEGE 10

Harvard continued its turnaround from the first loss of the weekend by dominating Connecticut College (2-8, 0-7) by a score of 20-10 yesterday in New London.

The offense led the team in the match, posting its second-biggest scoring output of the season. Junior Kevin DiSilvestro led the team with six goals, followed by senior Jeff Lee and senior Alex Thompson with three scores apiece. Junior Alex Popp had nine saves for the game.

HARVARD 15, QUEENS 11

After a tough loss earlier Saturday, the Crimson regrouped to edge out the win, 15-11, over Queens (6-8, 2-4). The defense was key in stopping the Knights’ offense from taking the match. Freshman Jimmy Field made 10 saves and Popp had six saves for the game.

Junior co-captain Luka Babic stepped up for the team in a major way. He fired five shots past the Queens goalie to lead his team in scoring. Junior Evan Zepfel, who is also a Crimson sports editor, and Thompson were also impressive for the squad, scoring three and two goals, respectively.

“We had a team meeting and had to stress the importance of focusing on the here and now despite the loss,” co-captain Bret Voith said. “Those games were must-wins to get us into contention for standing purposes.”

NO. 15 ST. FRANCIS 23, HARVARD 7

The Crimson opened the weekend with a loss to St. Francis (17-3, 6-0). The Terriers broke free early in the game, leaving Harvard behind, 9-3, at the half. Harvard had the opportunity to come back after the break, but St. Francis completely dominated the third quarter. The Terriers scored eight goals to the Crimson’s zero and gained a 17-3 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

“I think we weren’t doing what we were coached to do,” Popp said. “[The Terriers] let off a lot of shots in that quarter, and we weren’t pressing up enough.”

Harvard managed to put up a few more points, but ultimately fell, 23-7. It was the team’s fourth loss in a row and third loss in a row on the road. Junior Mike Katzer led the team with two goals and Popp had 13 saves, his high for the weekend.

Next up on the Harvard schedule is a familiar and nearby opponent. The Crimson travels to play at MIT this Friday.

“We need to play team defense against MIT,” Popp said. “If we come out and play four quarters and all have each others’ backs, then I’m confident we can pull out the win.”

But Harvard does not have much time. After taking on MIT, the squad then heads to Princeton, N.J. for the Ivy Championships before rounding out the season with the CWPA Northern Division Championships and CWPA Eastern Championships.

—Staff writer Steven T. A. Roach can be reached at sroach@fas.harvard.edu.