Brown Water Polo Defeats Harvard at ECAC Championships
Sept. 21, 2008
Cambridge, MA -
After the Brown men's water polo struggled on day one of the ECAC Championships losing to both Bucknell and Princeton, the Bears bounced right back to beat host Harvard, 14-6, to finish in seventh place.
Bruno came into the tournament looking to beat the Bison and advance to its first ever semi-final game in the ECAC Championship tournament, but Bucknell's effective zone drop defense to eliminate senior Mike Gartner (San Jose, CA)from the game plan and forced the Bears into outside shots. Bucknell was able to defeat the Bears 11-9, and send Brown into the losers bracket.
"We knew what they were going to do against us and we just didn't play well," said Head Coach Felix Mercado. "We probably played our worst day of water polo on Saturday."
The day didn't get much better for Bruno, as they lost to Princeton in the night cap, 15-10. Leading the Bears in scoring on day one was senior Hank Weintraub (Los Angeles, CA) and sophomore Gordon Hood (Carlsbad, CA), who tallied four goals each in the two games. Junior Kent Holland (Orinda, CA) played in net against Bucknell and picked up seven saves, while freshman Max Lubin (Beverly Hills, CA) was in the cage against Princeton and posted four saves during the game.
Brown showed its resilience on Sunday and beat Harvard 14-6. Weintraub and Hood once again led Bruno's offensive attack, each notching three goals, while sophomore Corey Schwartz (Los Angeles, CA) and senior Grant LeBeau (San Diego, CA) added two a piece. Holland was in bet for the Bears, picking up eight saves.
"While we're not happy with a seventh place finish, we knew that bouncing back and playing well on Sunday would help us get back on track," added Mercado. "We still have some work to do, but we know what we have to do."
The Bears are back in action at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, as they take on MIT.
Brown 9, Bucknell 11
Goals: Weintraub 2, Schwartz 2, Hood 2, Mike Gartner 2, Marcus Gartner 1
Saves: Holland, 7
Brown: 2-3-2-2 = 9
BU: 3-2-4-2=11
Brown 10, Princeon 15
Goals: LeBeau 3, Levko 2, Hood 2, Weintraub 2, Mike Gartner 1
Saves: Lubin 4
Brown 14, Harvard 6
Goals: Weintraub 3, Hood 3, Schwartz 2, LeBeau 2, Mike Gartner 1, Marcus Gartner 1, Yoshimura 1, Levko 1
Saves: Holland 8
