Men's Water Polo Caps Regular Season With Two Wins, Close Loss to Princeton

Riding a five-game winning streak heading into the weekend, the Harvard men’s water polo team looked to extend its success during a tough Northeast Water Polo Conference slate that included matchups against two ranked foes. This was the second weekend this season that the Crimson has faced off against the exact same three teams.

Similar to the first weekend in October, No. 10 Harvard (22-6, 7-3 NWPC) dropped one out of three games. The Crimson’s lone defeat came against the team it’s tied in the polls with—No. 10 Princeton (17-8, 8-2), meaning that the team split the season series with both the Tigers and No. 20 St. Francis (12-12, 5-5), while sweeping both of its games against struggling Iona (9-20, 1-9).

HARVARD 17, IONA 7

After a bitter defeat to Princeton, Harvard took out its frustration on Iona Sunday afternoon. The Gaels were looking for redemption after a 16-10 loss to the Crimson on Oct. 1, but its trip to Boston only involved another blowout.

Iona began the game’s scoring, but two quick strikes by sophomore attacker Nathan Ondracek ensured that the opening goal would lead to the only lead the Gaels would enjoy on the day. The two teams would go into the second period tied up, 3-3, but not before Ondracek would promptly complete his hat trick.

Harvard began its prolific scoring stretch with a four-goal run out of the gate in the second quarter. Mid-game falters, a theme of the weekend for the Crimson, became apparent, however, as Iona scored three straight goals in response. The half would end with Harvard leading by just two goals, 8-6.

“Most of our adjustments need to be mental, like within each individual,” junior co-captain Harry Tafur said. “I think a lot of times we over-think things, we get too emotional in the game. That’s what we really need to improve on.”

But the second half was magic for the Crimson as sophomore attacker Nick Bunn scored three straight goals to earn his second hat-trick of the weekend; he finished with a career-high five goals in the match. The Gaels would score their final goal of the game in the third quarter, and Harvard cruised to a victory to close out the weekend.

PRINCETON 11, HARVARD 10

The Senior Night matchup lived up to its billing, pitting two rivals that may soon meet again in the playoffs.

The Crimson had a commanding 5-2 lead early before a two-goal rally by the Tigers brought the visitors to within one. Then things got interesting.

The physical play came to a crescendo after sophomore two-meter defender Grant Harvey swiped at the face of Princeton’s Ryan Wilson after the Tiger sophomore hit the post with a shot off a counter-attack. The action would return to the other side of the pool, where Harvard upped its lead to 6-4; but afterwards, play came to a halt because Wilson had suffered a cut.

After a long stoppage involving a bit of yelling between the crowd and the teams, and a meeting between the two coaches, the Tigers converted a penalty shot and free possession to tie the game at six apiece.

“I think that we had to ride some momentum and settle down,” Harvard coach Ted Minnis said. “We didn’t do that in the middle of the third. We missed some shots. Their goalie made some good blocks. They had some really good field blocks.”

After a momentary 7-7 tie, Princeton went on a game-winning three-goal run. The Crimson would pull closer, cutting the Tigers’ lead to 11-10 with just under seven minutes left in the game. But despite immense pressure on both sides of the pool, neither team was able to convert again. Harvard’s last shot, as time expired, went over the net.

“It was a tough loss to swallow, since I think everybody knew we could have played better as a whole, and as individuals,” Tafur said. “But it’s not the end of our season, so we’ll practice and get back into it.”

HARVARD 11, ST. FRANCIS 9

After putting up a poor showing against St. Francis in the two teams’ last meeting, the Crimson was able to tie the season series and start the weekend off on a good note this time around.

Contributions by senior attacker Noah Harrison and co-captain Joey Colton put Harvard up 5-2. This seemingly comfortable lead evaporated with three unanswered goals by the Terriers.

The second and third quarters saw back and forth action in which St. Francis tied up the game multiple times after the Crimson tried to inch ahead. Bunn also netted his third goal of the game to earn his first hat trick of the weekend.

Just hours before Senior Night, the other two fourth-year players, two-meter defender Dan Stevens and attacker Viktor Wrobel, made their presences known with a goal apiece to give Harvard a 9-7 lead that the team would not relinquish. The Terriers tried to chase the Crimson, but the two teams traded goals and the Crimson would go on to win 11-9.

“They’ve done a great job,” Minnis said. “They’ve won a lot of games. You know, they are a great group of guys. I’m proud of them and they will be missed in a year.”