Men's Water Polo Kicks Off Conference Play with 4-0 Start

The last time Harvard men’s water polo won six consecutive games, Class of 2016 attackers Ben Zepfel, Blake Lee, and Noah Harrison were probably studying their multiplication tables.

A young Harvard men’s water polo team completed an historic weekend sweep Sunday to open CWPA conference play. With four wins in three days, the Crimson (9-5) earned its first six-game winning streak since 2002.

“Our goal going into this weekend was to go 4-0,” Harvard coach Ted Minnis said following the Crimson’s 11-3 win over Iona Saturday night.

A core of talented freshmen helped propel Harvard to a hard-fought away victory over MIT (4-6) on Friday night, and the Crimson carried the momentum into a Saturday double-header for a pair of home wins against Fordham (1-10) and Iona (1-8). Harvard rounded out the sweep Sunday at Connecticut College, winning 14-9.

Minnis was pleased with the manner in which the Crimson controlled the pace of its games.

“We’re working very hard on the defensive end, not chasing after goals and letting the offense come,” Minnis said.

HARVARD 14, CONNECTICUT COLLEGE 9

The Crimson buried the Camels early in a Sunday matinee at Connecticut College’s Jane Cadwell Lott Natatorium. Harvard scored the first four goals of the game to coast to a sixth consecutive win.

Zepfel tallied his fourth hat trick of the winning streak, and fellow freshman attacker Harrison also chipped in three goals. On defense, freshman Lee led the Crimson with four steals. Freshman goalie Colin Woolway made nine saves.

Connecticut College is now 0-17 against Harvard all-time.

HARVARD 11, IONA 3

In the second game of Saturday’s home double-header, the Crimson recorded a season-high 17 steals to stifle the Iona attack.

The Gaels managed only 14 shots on goal, while Harvard’s Zepfel and sophomore attacker Max Murphy earned hat tricks, and Lee had a team-leading four picks. Junior goalie Jimmy Field made 11 saves.

“Overall, our defense is looking really good,” Murphy said. “We’re shutting teams down, and that’s what we wanted to work on [and] wanted to improve on the most.”

The Crimson held Iona scoreless in the second half save a late fourth quarter goal.

“We were making them earn every inch that they tried to get in the pool, and I think that’s a big part of what we want to do here going forward,” Minnis said.

HARVARD 12, FORDHAM 7

On Saturday afternoon at Blodgett, the Crimson jumped out to a 2-1 lead midway through the first quarter and never gave it up in a dominant victory.

Harvard yielded few offensive opportunities to Fordham as junior co-captain Will Roller led the Crimson in scoring with a hat trick. Five Harvard goals in the third quarter, including a pair of successful penalty shots by Zepfel, put the game out of reach.

Harvard’s coach saw improvements as the game progressed.

“Energy-wise in the first half we weren’t clicking. We let in a couple of goals we probably should have stopped,” Minnis said. “We made some adjustments at half time, and we came out and did a better job on the defensive end.”

HARVARD 13, MIT 12

The Crimson outlasted the Engineers before a spirited crowd at MIT’s Zesiger Aquatic Center Friday night.

The two squads battled to a 7-7 tie in the first half before Harvard broke away in the third frame, outscoring MIT 4-1. The Crimson added two more goals in the fourth quarter to hold off a late MIT surge.

The clangs of pots and pans filled the air as members of MIT’s Delta Upsilon fraternity chapter cheered on brothers playing for the Engineers.

“It was impossible to hear anything in the pool,” Murphy said. “I think it made us come together as team, because you really have to rely on communication in the pool and communication between players when you’re in an atmosphere like that.”

With the win, Harvard draws even with MIT in the teams’ season series. The Crimson suffered a 19-7 rout at the hands of the Engineers on Sept. 1, but on Friday, the MIT offense managed only one even-strength goal.

Zepfel led the Crimson on both sides of the ball with four goals and four steals. Lee and Roller each contributed two goals and four assists to the effort. Goalies Field and Woolway combined for seven saves.