#19 Brown Ends Regular Season with 10-7

Oct. 26, 2007

Norton, MA - For the first time this season, the #19 Brown men's water polo team (17-8) got to play in familiar surroundings on Friday night, beating Mercyhurst (11-6), 10-7 at Wheaton College's Balfour Natatorium. Balfour has been the Bears' primary practice facility this fall.

The Lakers made a strong run at the upset bid, staying with the Bears for three quarters and holding a 4-3 lead at halftime. However, Brown pulled away in the final quarter with four goals to Mercyhurst's one.

"It was great to finally play in front of friends and family," said freshman Corey Schwartz. "I think we had a lot of emotion and might have pressed too hard early."

Schwartz (Los Angeles, CA), fellow first-year Gordon Hood (Carlsbad, CA), and junior Mike Gartner (San Jose, CA) led the Bears with two goals each, while senior co-captain Gerrit Adams (Winnetka, IL) and juniors Nico Fort (Miami, FL), Grant LeBeau (San Diego, CA), and Hank Weintraub (Los Angeles, CA) each scored once. Sophomore Kent Holland (Orinda, CA) made seven stops in the cage after missing Thursday night's game with Harvard.

Brown finishes its regular season at 17-8, setting a new school record for regular season wins, and surpassing the old mark of 16 set in 2005. The school record of 20 total wins was also set that season.

Next weekend will start the Bears' postseason, as they travel up to MIT for the Northern Division Championship. The second-seed in the tournament, Brown will open against Queens College at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

MERCYHURST 1 3 2 1 - 7
#19 BROWN 1 2 3 4 - 10
Goals: Brown - Gartner 2, Hood 2, Schwartz 2, Adams, Weintraub, Fort, LeBeau; Mercyhurst - Perry 4, Calderon, Holt, Schonhoff
Saves: Brown - Holland 7; Mercyhurst - Sekulski 10