Harvard Splits on First Day of Northern Division Championship

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The Harvard men's water polo team earned a split on day one of the Northern Divison Championships held at Blodgett Pool Saturday. The Crimson fell to MIT, 7-5, and bounced back to beat Connecticut College, 20-6.  

Earlier in the day, Harvard dropped its opening round contest against fifth-seeded MIT by the sore of 7-5.  In a defensive battle, the Engineers scored the first two goals of the game and led, 3-1, at the half, before holding back the Crimson in the second half.  Max Eliot scored twice for Harvard, while Kevin DiSilvestro, Luka Babic and Mike Katzer tallied a goal apiece.  In goal, Nikhil Balaraman stopped 11 shots. 

"Our team played with fire and passion, but could not break through against MIT," said Harvard head coach Erik Farrar.

In the team's second game, the Crimson downed Connecticut College 20-6. Harvard jumped out to a 6-1 lead and never relenquished that lead. Junior Alex Thompson paced the Crimson with six goals and two steals. Junior Jeff Lee added three goals, two steals and an assist. Junior Veselin Kulev tallied his first two collegiate goals while rookie Eliot scored twice in the game. Junior John Kolb, sophomores Luka Babic, Kevin DiSilvestro, Evan Zepfel and freshman Antone Martinho each notched a goal in the contest. Sophomore netminder Alexandre Popp recorded seven saves against the Camels.

Harvard improves to 6-17 overall and will face Queens (N.Y.) in the fifth-place match Sunday morning at 9 a.m.