SANTA CLARA, CA – No. 15 Harvard men's water polo went 2-2 in an action packed weekend at the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament. The Crimson beat No. 17, Santa Clara, 15-13, and Fresno Pacific 21-7 in the Saturday doubleheader. Harvard fell to San Jose State 14-13 in a close game early Sunday morning to wrap up the program's final California trip of the season.
Record Breaking Weekend
- First-year James Rozolis-Hill broke the single-season scoring record with his 95th goal of the year with five regular season games still left to play.
- Noah Hodge broke the all-time saves record over the weekend with his 769th career save.
Game 1: Harvard 15, Santa Clara 13
Noah Hodge Breaks All-Time Saves Record
Noah Hodge came within two saves of the record in the Crimson's first game on Friday, but the senior was able to break the record on Saturday.
"So proud of
Noah Hodge,"
Ted Minnis, The Friends of Harvard Water Polo Head Coach said on Saturday. "The new all-time saves leader and he's just meant so much to our program. He allows us to do things defensively and just makes us better every day with his leadership skills and it's great to have him in our program."
"I'm super proud to have achieved this milestone in my career," Hodge said. "Harvard has given me a lot. And I guess this is my way to kind of give back. Being a part of this program for five years now has meant a lot.
"I'm just really, really blessed to be a part of this program and be around these guys," Hodge continued. "They are the ones that really cemented me to get this milestone. I'm super proud and super excited for the rest of the season and we'll keep going from here."
Harvard Highlights
- James Rozolis-Hill scored seven times in the win. The first-year also added an assist and two exclusions drawn to his totals.
- Captain Alex Tsotadze was all over the scoresheet as the senior had four goals, two assists, and one steal.
- Michael Sonsini added to his team-leading assist totals with another six-assist performance.
- Owen Hale added three more steals to his already impressive defensive season.
- Kaleb Archer and Mot Stothart both registered one goal and one assist each.
- Noah Hodge was spectacular on his way to becoming the all-time leader in saves as the senior registered 11 saves.
How it happened
- Harvard came out and scored six goals in the first quarter.
- James Rozolis-Hill tallied four goals in the first quarter with Kaleb Archer and Mot Stothart getting the other two goals.
- The Crimson led 6-4 after the first quarter.
- Harvard added to its lead thanks to a four-goal second quarter with goals coming from Owen Hale, James Rozolis-Hill, and Alex Tsotadze who scored his second goal of the quarter with 54 seconds left before the half.
- Tsotadze completed the hat trick a minute into the third quarter.
- Rozolis-Hill's seventh goal and Michael Sonsini's early fourth-quarter strike helped protect the lead for the Crimson.
Game 2: Harvard 21, Fresno Pacific 7
Harvard Highlights
Game 3: San Jose State 14, Harvard 13
Harvard Highlights
- Noah Hodge was spectacular in net as the captain made many key saves down the stretch. The senior finished with thirteen saves and two assists while tallying his first goal of the season.
- James Rozolis-Hill scored another five goal on his way to breaking the single season goal record.
- Mot Stothart continued his impressive weekend with a four-goal performance.
- Kaleb Archer added two goals and one assist to his season totals.
- Alex Tsotadze registered two assists.
How it Happened
- Mot Stothart and Kaleb Archer scored first-quarter goals for the Crimson as they trailed 3-2 after one-quarter of play.
- The Crimson offense exploded with a five-goal second quarter with goals coming from Rozolis-Hill and Mot Stothart.
- Rozolis-Hill and Owen Hale scored in the third quarter.
- The score was 9-9 heading into the final frame.
- The Crimson scored four goals in the final frame with tallies coming from Stothart, Rozolis Hill, Archer, and Hodge.
- Noah Hodge scored with 11 seconds left to cut the San Jose lead to one.
Next Up
The Crimson return to Blodgett Pool for a Saturday doubleheader against Brown at 3:00 p.m. and MIT at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+
