The No. 18 men's water polo team battled their way through three New York teams this weekend, sinking the competition along the way. With wins against Fordham, 12-6, Iona, 13-12, and Queens College, 14-11, the Bears are now 6-0 in league play and have clinched the first seed for the Northern Championships. With a win tonight against their final league foe Connecticut College, this year's team will become the first in Brown history to go undefeated in CWPA North league play.
"We went in knowing we were going to play three teams we were supposed to beat, so it's always a little tricky to get your head straight for those games," said goalie Kent Holland '10. "But we went in with urgency because we knew if we won we'd be one game away from that undefeated record."
But playing in three small pools, two of which - Iona and Queens - are shallow on one end and deep on the other, the men felt at a disadvantage.
"All three games were in small pools, which doesn't help us as a fast team," Mike Gartner '09 said. "And shallow-deep is always a curve ball. It really changes the game." This different type of pool mainly affects the goalies and their timing for saves, when they're allowed to jump off the bottom, as well as putting awkward restraints on the rest of the players' movements who are not allowed to push off the bottom.
Assistant Coach John McBride echoed this sentiment.
"The team that practices every day in the shallow-deep pool will always have the advantage," McBride said.
The three-game series kicked off Friday night against Fordham. The game got off to a rocky start for Bruno, but the men fought back and took down the Rams 12-6. Gordon Hood '11 and Gartner led the Bears in goals, scoring four apiece. Gartner also drew nine ejections throughout the game, giving Brown some much needed offensive opportunities. Holland kept the Bears in the game from the cage, blocking two penalty shots and tallying 14 total saves.
On Saturday, the men continued their success, taking down Iona and Queens colleges. The day started off in New Rochelle, NY where the Bears faced off against Iona in the first shallow-deep pool. The Gaels came out swinging and took the early lead with a score of 9-6 at the half, while Brown's Head Coach Felix Mercado was given a red card to take him out of the game.
"It was the right thing to do," Gartner said. "Because at halftime that really pumped us up and we were able to come back from behind."
And so the Bears fought back, outscoring Iona 7-3. Gartner and Hood continued to dominate the offensive end of the pool, notching five and four goals respectively. The Bears also saw goals from Nico Fort '09, Grant LeBeau '09, Corey Schwartz '11 and Hank Weintraub '09. Holland and Max Lubin '12 shared time in the cage, tallying three saves apiece.
"Max played the shallow end parts," Holland said. "I have no experience with it so I was happy with that and he really played great. He came out big and had a couple of great blocks."
To finish off the weekend, Brown traveled to Flushing, N.Y., to take on Queens College. Mercado's red card left him unable to coach, throwing a wrinkle into Bruno's plans. Then Gartner also received a red card, taking him out of the game, and Weintraub was ejected three times, leaving him majored on the bench for the remainder of the game. Without their head coach and down two starters, the Bears were in for a tough fight. But captain LeBeau rose to the occasion, scoring six goals to help the Bears to a 14-11 victory. Brandon Yoshirmura '11 also stood out, with two assists and drawing five ejections throughout the game.
"In each game we got off to a slow start but were able to gain momentum," McBride said. "Each game required a different kind of adjustment so we were glad to escape with three wins."
The men are back in action tonight for their first "home game" against Connecticut College at Wheaton College. With a win here, the Bears would earn an undefeated record for league play for the first time in school history.
