Polomen Peak Too Early, Fall to Bears

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Too bad water polo is played in an indoor heated pool.

The story with men's water polo was the same this year as in any other year. The season came down to just one simple question: Could Harvard beat Brown?

At the beginning of the year, it looked as if the answer were a resounding yes. The Crimson defeated the Bears in their first head-to-head matchup, breaking a four year drought against its Ivy League archenemy.

And with the second-coming of Zimmerman (a.k.a. freshman scoring leader Mike Zimmerman, younger brother of Jeff Zimmerman '94) and the strong play of co-captain Julian Alexander, the Crimson seemed set on ending the Brown dynasty in the Ivies.

So close, yet so far.

After riding the momentum of the first Bears win into the Ivy Championship Semifinals, Harvard came up against Brown for the second time.

The Bears rolled to victory and went on to capture the Ivy crown, sending a strong message to a disappointed Harvard squad.

But the Crimson had a chance for redemption, and a little revenge, when they came up against Brown for the final time in this year's Eastern Championships Qualifier.

The Eastern Qualifiers is divided into North and South conferences. Four teams from each conference move on to the championships. Entering the rubber match against the Bears, the Crimson was clinging to the fourth and final playoff stop, one victory ahead of Brown in the standings. It was do or die time: the loser would go home, the winner would move on.

All signs pointed to a Harvard victory. The game was held in Blodgett Pool, giving Harvard a decisive home advantage, and the Crimson had proven to be a more talented team than the Bears over the course of the season.

But Harvard could not exorcise the Brown demons and fell to the Bears 9-8 in double-overtime.

"We should have beaten Brown handily," Zimmerman said. "We could've done so much better."

But the Crimson will try to turn that disappointment into motivation for next year. Returning four starters to the lineup, Harvard will look to definitively assert itself over Brown and rise to the next level.

Harvard Sports Stats 1995-96

Men's Water Polo

Record: 13-11

Easterns: Fifth

Head Coach: Don Benson '88

Captains: Julian Alexander '96, Chip Hellar '96

Other Key Players: Alex Kim '96, Mike Zimmerman '99, Ed Chen '98, Jake Basset '96, Thad Kousser '96