With an enrollment of 2,300, St. Francis College proudly calls itself the "Small College of Big Dreams." Perhaps nothing at the New York City school embodies the motto better than its water polo team, the perennial powerhouse that consistently beats up bigger colleges.
Like Brown, for example.
After a rocky start, the No. 19 men's water polo team fell 14-10 to No. 11 St. Francis in the finals of the Northern Division Championships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sunday. It was the Bears' second loss to the Terriers, who also won a September match 14-12.
St. Francis led the Bears 9-4 at halftime and 12-6 after three quarters. Though the Bears out-scored St. Francis 4-2 in the fourth quarter, the Terriers' offensive prowess in the first half proved too strong to topple.
"I think our biggest problem was execution," said Head Coach Felix Mercado. "We weren't out-played - we just didn't execute well. All of that is fixable with practice. We are going to focus more on the tactical part of the game by walking through stuff so the team has more time to see what I expect from them."
Mike Gartner '09 led the Bears in scoring with four goals and also had four ejections. Hank Weintraub's '09 single goal was coupled with six assists. Grant LeBeau '09 with two goals, and Gerrit Adams '08 and Corey Schwartz '11, each with one goal rounded out the scoring for the Bears. Goalie Kent Holland '10 had seven saves.
"Initially we came out slow," Weintraub said. "We were a little bit intimidated, but we got over that in the second half and will be more competitive with them the next time we play them."
Though the loss was disappointing, the only thing it affected was the Bears' seeding at the Eastern Championships in two weeks. The Bears will now focus on that tournament, since a title there would earn Brown a trip to the NCAA tournament.
"We want to win (Eastern), but I'll be satisfied if we play to our fullest capabilities," Mercado said. "I want us to be in every game and if we lose, it's because that other team was better than us - not because we didn't play well. If we end up winning the whole thing it will be great, but I'll be happy if at the end we can look in the mirror and say we played our best."
Weintraub was a bit more specific when asked about his goals for the Eastern Championships.
"Are you kidding? We want to win. We're a dark horse. No one expects us to win, but we're looking for an upset," he said.
The Eastern Championships take place at Harvard from November 16 to 18.
