#19 Bears Fall To #11 St. Francis in Northern Division Title Game

Nov. 4, 2007

Cambridge, MA - After falling behind early, the 19th-ranked Brown men's water polo team (19-9) was unable to come back, falling to #11 St. Francis, 14-10, in the championship game of the Northern Division Championship at MIT on Sunday.

The Terriers hit their shots and frustrated the Bears offensively early, leading to a 9-4 halftime lead and 12-6 score after three quarters. Brown rallied a bit in the final quarter, out-scoring St. Francis 4-2, but it was too late. Still, the second-place finish qualifies the Bears for the Eastern Championships, which will be held at Harvard in two weeks.

"While I'm not happy with the way we played in the first half, I am encouraged that we got back on track to finish strong," said Brown Head Coach Felix Mercado. "We have two weeks to get ready for Easterns, but our goal has not changed - we feel we can win it."

Junior Mike Gartner (San Jose, CA) led the Bears with four goals and four ejections. Junior Hank Weintraub (Los Angeles, CA) had a team-high six assists to go with a goal. Junior Grant LeBeau (San Diego, CA) added two goals, while senior Gerrit Adams (Winnetka, IL) and freshman Corey Schwartz (Los Angeles, CA) had one apiece. Sophomore Kent Holland (Orinda, CA) made seven saves in the cage.

#19 Brown 2 2 2 4 - 10
#11 St. Francis 5 4 3 2 - 14
Goals: Gartner 4, LeBeau 2, Adams, Schwartz, Weintraub
Saves: Holland 7