Bears Slug UC Santa Cruz, Yale on Day Two of MIT Invitational

Sept. 9, 2007

Cambridge, MA - In a battle of two teams sitting just outside the Top 20 poll, the Brown men's water polo team (2-0) topped defending Division III National Champion UC Santa Cruz, 13-6, on the second and final day of the MIT Invitational. The Bears used stifling man-down defense to cruise to the victory, holding the Slugs to just one goal on nine man-up advantages. Junior Mike Gartner (San Jose, CA) led the way offensively with six goals. Later in the day, the Bears shut out Yale, a club team, 8-0.

Keying the defense was sophomore goalkeeper Kent Holland (Orinda, CA), who had 10 saves. Juniors Nico Fort (Miami, FL) and Hank Weintraub (Los Angeles, CA) had two goals each, while senior co-captain Gerrit Adams (Winnetka, IL), junior Grant LeBeau (San Diego, CA), and sophomore Zach Levko (Wildwood, MO) had one apiece.

Against Yale, Head Coach Felix Mercado took the opportunity to get playing time for many of his players in an exhibition contest. Freshmen Brandon Yoshimura (Haverford, PA) and Kevin White (Davis, CA) both picked up their first exhibition goals of the season, while classmate Corey Schwartz (Los Angeles, CA) added one of his own. Weintraub led the team with two markers, with Adams, Fort, and LeBeau notching one apiece to round out the scoring. Holland and Fort split time in net, with the latter now serving as the team's backup goalkeeper. Fort actually topped Holland, with six saves to the sophomore's five.

Brown begins play in the Collegiate Water Polo Association's Northern Division next weekend, traveling to New York to take on #14 St. Francis and Queens.