The men's water polo team was narrowly defeated by Ivy League rival Harvard at the Smith Swim Center Thursday night. The Crimson, now just 2-7, used a strong third period to notch a 7-6 win and avenge an early-season loss to the Bears, who fell to 8-5 on the year. It was an emotional meeting for both teams, who could potentially face each other in the first round of the Northern Championships late next month.
Bruno struck first blood in the opening quarter with a counterattack goal by Stu Thompson '07. Harvard squeaked a shot past goaltender Jay Fantone '06 late in the quarter to even the score. Both teams locked down defensively, holding each other scoreless for the remainder of the quarter.
Mike Gartner '09 capitalized on a six-on-five advantage to net his 29th goal of the year and give the Bears a 2-1 lead in the second quarter. However, the Crimson fought through a stingy Brown defense to net two goals of their own less than a minute apart to go up 3-2 at the half.
The third quarter played out much like the second for both squads. Brown opened the period with a goal by Gerrit Adams '08. The Crimson responded once again with two late-quarter goals less than 60 seconds apart. The goals gave Harvard its second and final lead of the night.
Play became increasingly physical in the fourth quarter, as both teams saw light at the end of the tunnel. Harvard notched the first goal of the period, extending its lead to three goals. Gartner countered one minute later with his second goal of the night. With 3:08 left to play the Crimson scored their seventh and final goal. The Bears rallied to within a single point behind goals from Greg Harm '06 and Grant LeBeau '09.
Bruno called timeout with 35 seconds left in regulation to set up a final play. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be - a Harvard defender narrowly blocked a shot by co-captain Andy Wiener '06.
Head Coach Jason Gall was pleased with his team's effort, if not with the outcome.
"I think everyone played as hard as they could," he said. "There were plenty of opportunities but I think we were just trying to make too many big plays."
Weiner felt the magnitude of the rivalry factored into the loss.
"It was a very emotional game," he said. "We let the environment get to us and we made mistakes that we normally wouldn't make."
The loss puts Bruno in a precarious position going into the Northern Cham-pionship tournament. The Bears are currently seeded second, but any loss to a league team could drop the team as low as fourth.
"We can't lose anymore league games," Gall said. "We really don't want to be a fourth seed going into Northerns."
The Bears will look forward to a few low-pressure games this weekend, traveling to Colorado Springs for the East-West Invitational hosted by Air Force Academy. The invitational will give the team a chance to face some non-league foes as it prepares for the high intensity tournaments late in the season.
