No. 19 Men's Water Polo Earns Overtime Victory over Harvard

Oct. 2, 2008

Cambridge, MA - The No. 19 ranked Brown men's water polo team earned a thrilling 10-8 overtime victory over the Harvard Crimson on Wednesday evening at Blodgett Pool. Brown improved its record to 6-5 on the season, and is 3-0 in conference play.

The Bears got off to a slow start, missing some great scoring opportunities that saw seven first half shots hitting the crossbars while Brown trailed 3-1 at the end of the first quarter. Brown and Harvard each tallied two goals in the second half, as the Crimson headed into halftime with a 5-3 edge.

Bruno's defense shut down Harvard in the third, and scored two goals in both the third and fourth quarter to tie the game at seven to force the game into overtime. Brown outscored Harvard 7-3 after the second quarter, which included a 3-1 advantage in overtime.

"We missed some great opportunities on offense in the first half and had to fight back to get back into the game," said Head Coach Felix Mercado. "I wasn't worried because I felt we were outplaying them but not converting on our chances."

Brown scored two goals in the first overtime and held Harvard scoreless, while both teams posted one goal in the second as Bruno earned a 10-8 victory. Brown's junior goalkeeper Kent Holland (Orinda, CA) picked up six saves, while Harvard's goalie Jay Connelly made 11 saves.

"Good teams find a way to win games and I think we saw that tonight," added Mercado.

Sophomore Gordon Hood (Carlsbad, CA), the CWPA's Northern Division Player of the Week, scored three goals, while senior Mike Gartner (San Jose, CA) scored three as well. Senior Nico Fort (Miami, FL) added two, and senior Grant LeBeau (San Diego, CA) and junior Corey Schwartz (Los Angeles, CA) tallied two.

The Bears are back in action at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 10 when they take on Fordham, and will then challenge Iona on Oct. 11 at noon.