SEASON RECAP: Late-Season Surge Ensures Trip to Easterns

After a tough start to its season, the Harvard men’s water polo team improved down the stretch and reached the Eastern Championships for the second straight year.

Under the guidance of second-year coach Erik Farrar, and led by junior co-captain Michael Garcia, the Crimson won its final three regular season games to finish the season with an 8-11 record and a 5-4 mark in the CWPA Northern Division.

At the Northern Championships, Harvard clinched a spot at Easterns by beating Iona 11-10 in double overtime in the third-place game. At Easterns the Crimson finished seventh, beating the Gaels again, this time 9-5 in the seventh-place game.

After a fourth-place finish at Easterns in Farrar’s first season with the team, a downturn could have been expected, as Harvard had only three seniors this year. While the team struggled early on, Farrar had the team staying in games from the beginning and playing hard.

“Coach Farrar really helped motivate us, had us working as a team,” junior Eric Byrd said. “He is an all-around great coach. We feel we are in good hands.”

Farrar implemented an in-season lifting program to improve the players’ strength and ultimately, performance.

“The in-season lifting was a sign he is taking this program to the next level,” Byrd said.

In the pool, Garcia was a stalwart on both the offensive and defensive ends. Among his many highlights, the junior driver assisted on all five goals in a 5-2 win over Iona near the end of the regular season and led the Crimson with three goals against the Gaels in the final game of the year. He was named to the Eastern Championships All-Tournament second team.

“Garcia has a great work ethic and is a really smart and talented player,” Byrd said. “He really captained the offense.”

Garcia made just as much of an impact on defense, frequently grabbing steals and thwarting opponents’ scoring opportunities.

Behind Garcia, goaltender and co-captain Robbie Burmeister, the only senior starter, played well in goal throughout the year.

“[Burmeister] puts us in position to win and does his part,” Garcia said.

Despite their inexperience, freshmen 2-MO Danny Bilotti and backup goaltender John Connolly played well for the Crimson. Their success, as well as the relative youth of this year’s team, bodes well for next year.

“We will have a lot of players back,” Garcia said.

—Staff writer Ted Kirby can be reached at tjkirby@fas.harvard.edu.