PRINCETON, N.J. – No. 12 Harvard men's water polo took down Connecticut College, 21-10, in the quarterfinals of the NWPC Championship tournament. The Crimson advances to the semifinals and will take on St. Francis Brooklyn at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow, Nov. 20.
13 days after playing a regular-season bout at Blodgett Pool against Connecticut College (1-14), the two sides met once again, this time at a neutral site.
Owen Hale opened the postseason account for the Crimson, scoring less than a minute into the game before
Andrej Basica exploded for three goals in as many minutes to give the Crimson an early 4-1 lead.
The offensive outburst would continue, with Harvard pouring in nine goals in the first period alone behind a late goal from
Alexandru Bucur.
Nathan Wu made three saves in net in the first period as Harvard led 9-3 through eight minutes. The game would slow down in the second period, with Bucur adding his second and
Alex James netting his third of the contest before the break, as the Crimson went into half with a 12-6 advantage.
The Camels got out to a quick start in the second half, netting the first two goals to make it a 12-8 game with 6:41 left in the period.
Kaleb Archer would get both of those goals back, netting two within 30 seconds that would begin a 9-0 run for Harvard. The stars of the first half, Basica and James, would add goals along with
Michael Del Mundo,
Max Keck, and
Cam Dougherty before the fourth period began. The run was capped off in the fourth by
Colin Le and
Roger Brockett getting on the scoresheet, as Wu totaled 14 saves on 24 shots in the victory.
Harvard Highlights
- First-year Alex James led the Crimson with four goals to go along with four steals.
- First-year Andrej Basica netted four goals including a hat-trick within the first three minutes of the game.
- Sophomore Cam Dougherty drew five exclusions while scoring a pair of goals in the victory.
- First-year Max Keck paced the Crimson with four assists while netting a goal.
- Junior goalie Nathan Wu made 14 saves in net while registering an assist and steal.
Game Notes
- Harvard moves to 26-4 on the season and reaches the 26-win mark for the third time in program history (2016, 2019).
- The Crimson sweeps the season series against Connecticut College, previously beating the Camels, 17-8, on Nov. 6.
- Harvard scored 21 goals in the victory, its most since netting 24 against Fresno Pacific on Oct. 22.
- The Crimson improves to 5-0 this season in games played at DeNunzio Pool.
- St. Francis Brooklyn defeated MIT, 12-5, to reach the semifinal against Harvard.
What's Next?
Harvard will play in the NWPC Semifinals tomorrow (Saturday, Nov. 20) at 2:00 p.m. back at DeNunzio Pool. The Crimson will take on St. Francis Brooklyn, after splitting the regular-season series with the Terriers, 1-1.
