Aquadudes Take Two Out of Five at Berkeley

Sometimes you just have to fight to earn respect.

The Harvard men's water polo team traveled to sunny California this past weekend to participate in the Berkeley Tournament. The Crimson (4-8) won two matches convincingly, but fell to three nationally-ranked teams.

"The talk around the pool was 'Here come those Harvard geeks. We're going to blow them out of the water,'" Co-Captain Andy Freed said. "I think we really shocked the West Coast with our play."

Harvard began its action against Cal-Berkeley--ranked number-one in the country--at the Bears home pool. California waterpolo experts must have been setting the point spread at between 20 and 30 points.

But the Crimson played its best game ever, according to Freed. Berkeley led by only two goals after one period. And the margin grew no larger than five points until the final quarter, when Harvard finally fell to the Bears superior depth, 14-4.

The Crimson carried its momentum into its match against Oregon Friday. The Ducks were simply no match for Harvard as the Crimson scored at will and romped, 22-3.

Saturday, the Crimson took on the 21st-ranked team in the country, Harvey Mudd, which was out to prove that any California team can whip the best teams from the East.

Sorry, Harvey. The Crimson continued its high-quality play to prevail, 11-3. Harvard's first victory ever over a California team reaffirmed Harvard's right to be in the top-20.

The Crimson's next contest was against 11th-ranked Air Force. Unfortunately, Harvard was cursed by the "post god" in losing, 9-5. The Crimson unleashed 25 shots but could connect only five times, rattling the goalposts numerous times.

Harvard finished the tournament with a tough 12-8 loss Sunday to another top-20 team, the Fresno State Bulldogs.

"We proved ourselves to be good players, able to play with anyone in the country," sophomore Peter Richards said. "We just need to be more mentally up and get our intensity up."