No. 19 Harvard Men’s Water Polo Sweeps Harvard Invitational, Extends Win Streak to Seven Games

No. 19 Harvard men’s water polo swept the Harvard Invitational this past weekend at Blodgett Pool, recording its second ranked win of the season and conceding at most four goals for the first time in three seasons.

With its tournament success, the Crimson (10-10, 4-1 Northeast Water Polo Conference) extended its win streak to seven games, following four straight victories to close out its first round of conference play.

Building on a strong defensive performance against then-No.19 Brown last weekend — its first ranked win of the season — Harvard dominated UC Merced 20-4 in its second game. The Crimson last recorded at least a 16-goal margin of victory and conceded four goals or fewer in its 19-1 win over Connecticut College in November of 2023.

Two of Harvard’s highest scorers led the way again this weekend. Senior utility Jack Burghardt tallied 12 goals, more than a fifth of the Crimson’s total during the tournament, followed by nine from freshman attacker Clay Carrington.

“I’m happy with how this weekend went. We got three wins,” head coach Ted Minnis said. “Defensively, we turned a corner. I’ve talked plenty of times that we have to get stops and we have to play well on the defensive side of the ball. We did that very well this weekend.”

“Those are the recipes that we need for success,” the coach added. “It’s not non-conference that matters to us; it’s how we do in conference and compete for the conference championship.”

Harvard 15, No. 17 Naval Academy 10

Harvard scored six straight goals in the second half to overcome a one-goal halftime deficit against the U.S. Naval Academy (15-4, 4-1 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference) on Saturday, recording its second straight win against a ranked opponent.

The Crimson’s second-half performance marked a shift from its last matchup with the Midshipmen in September, where Navy led by at least three goals for most of the second half en route to its 17-13 win at the Princeton Invitational.

Burghardt led Harvard’s offense with six goals, and seven of his teammates contributed at least one. Senior goalie Oliver Price, the reigning NWPC Defensive Player of the Week, recorded 14 saves.

After swarming the Crimson for a steal on its first possession, the Midshipmen quickly rotated on the next plays to take the lead with back-to-back goals.

Amid several defensive stops, the Navy’s goalie saved a Harvard penalty, but the home team quickly found its rhythm through offensive rotations — locating captain Jacob Tsodatze through an entry pass.

Carrington redeemed the Crimson from the penalty spot, and a pair of defensive blocks and turnovers closed the quarter at 2-2.

The Navy broke through in the second quarter, with a powerful outside shot to reclaim the advantage. Price saved a penalty and recorded another block, leading to a patient offensive build-up as junior defender Tyler Hogan tied it up.

Both teams exchanged another goal, but the Midshipmen quickly lofted and slammed a buzzer-beater for a 5-4 lead heading into the break.

A fast-paced exchange of four goals opened the third quarter, with Burghardt contributing both of Harvard’s by creating space centrally in front of the cage.

After a brief scoring deadlock, Burghardt again got onto the scoresheet with his third and fourth goals of the quarter, pushing the Crimson’s lead to 10-8.

With the Crimson quickly extending its advantage to four, the Midshipmen opted for a more aggressive defensive strategy, marking the host on its offensive perimeter.

Harvard responded accordingly, as quick passing sequences found Tsodatze and Burghardt through the inside space to extend a six-goal run.

“There are a lot of things that we really work on when we’re on defense. Going into practice, we work a lot on our ways — how we’re going to move, how we want to not foul and be patient and getting over our hips and movements back and forth, left and right, spidering,” Minnis said. “It’s a lot of repetition and watching film and talking about what is good, what is bad, and why we want to do things.”

“They’re Harvard students,” he added, praising his athletes. “They’re very smart, and so it’s understanding and having a high water polo IQ and understanding why we’re in the press.”

While Navy rapidly fired shots at Harvard’s cage, the Crimson held firm defensively with several stops and saves from Price.

Senior attacker Bradford Dickson scored the dagger, collecting the rebound from a long outside shot that bounced off the cage post, sealing the Crimson’s 15-10 victory.

Harvard 20, UC Merced 4

Harvard’s high press and offensive dominance forced UC Merced (1-14, 0-3 Western Water Polo Association) into rushed passes and multiple shot clock turnovers throughout the game, holding the Bobcats to only one goal in the first half and resulting in a 20-4 victory.

Guided by its effective passing sequences and rapid transition play, the Crimson tallied 18 goals by the end of the third quarter and scored 20 goals for the second time this season — following a 21-13 victory against MIT last Sunday.

Carrington led Harvard’s attack with eight goal contributions, including five goals, followed by sophomore attacker Felix Pal’s five goals.

With goalies Price and freshman Jonas Ransford notably absent, several of the Crimson’s seniors rotated in the cage throughout the game.

The host started with seven straight goals against Merced in the first quarter. On the other end of the pool, Harvard’s high press, which at times started before the half-pool line, stifled the Bobcats’ offense and held them to just one shot on goal.

“Offense has never been our problem this year. We score a lot of goals. We can shoot the ball well. We get good center play, we move well,” Minnis said. “The things that we’ve talked more about are when we do, we want to make the entries, moving the ball, moving the zones, being creative.”

Harvard maintained control through the second quarter despite slightly slowing down due to Merced’s higher press. In spite of the Bobcats’ tenacious defensive pressure, Hogan wrestled through two defenders and scored with a spin move to wrap up the first half with an 11-1 lead.

Despite aggressive defense and physicality, the Crimson outscored Merced 7-2 in the third quarter, led by a hat trick from Pal. The sophomore’s offensive effort included a fast-break goal, assisted by a cross-pool pass from Harvard’s cage.

While the fourth quarter was less productive for the Crimson — including its first shot clock violation and multiple offensive turnovers — the Bobcats were equally ineffective, stalled by their opponents’ defensive structure.

Only five goals were scored in the half, and no goals in the final three minutes. While offensive production slowed down, Pal scored his fifth and final goal from a penalty. Harvard completed a comfortable 20-4 win.

Harvard 18, Pomona Pitzer 10

In its final game of the weekend, the Crimson quickly built a seven-goal advantage, thanks to its fast transition game and consistent defensive steals. Harvard concluded its tournament sweep with an 18-10 victory over Pomona-Pitzer (11-10, 4-0 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference).

By halftime, the Crimson led 10-3 over the Sagehens, the top nationally ranked Division III team in the country.

Pomona Pitzer, at times, forced several offensive turnovers for Harvard, though eight saves in the cage from captain Vilas Sogaard-Srikrishnan — typically an attacker — dispelled the visitor’s slew of scoring opportunities.

Nine different players balanced out the Crimson’s scoring, led by hat-tricks from Carrington, as well as attackers junior Dean Strauser and freshman Connor Kim.

The Sagehens opened up the scoring, but Carrington immediately responded with a goal on the following possession. Harvard continued implementing its high defensive press, but Pomona Pitzer broke through for the second time in the first quarter on a power play.

Breaking the back-and-forth scoring, the Crimson quickly pulled away by scoring three unanswered goals. Dickson found space to launch a shot amid enclosing pressure from two defenders, while Carrington scored a buzzer-beater from the opposite end of the pool to close the quarter.

Harvard continued its rigid defensive structure through the second quarter, as its pressure forced the Sagehens to commit a shot clock violation on their first possession.

Pomona Pitzer responded accordingly, forcing several turnovers and eventually winning a penalty due to its physicality.

Fortunately for the Crimson, following Sogaard-Srikishnan’s penalty save, a quick pass up the pool to junior attacker Lucas Peabody closed the half with a 10-3 lead.

The Sagehens’ defense tightened after the break, but Harvard still found ways to convert, with Kim starting the scoring off with a shot to the top left corner.

While the visitors began to rally to close the quarter with four goals, Harvard still maintained a 16-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

In the final quarter, the Sagehens continued their offensive momentum, scoring on the first possession.

But the Crimson’s dominance proved too great a challenge for Pomona Pitzer to overcome. Harvard came out on top, 18-10.

The Crimson will travel to Santa Clara, Calif., for the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament this weekend, where it will face strong competition from four nationally ranked California teams.

Harvard will play No. 13 Pepperdine, as well as re-matches against three familiar opponents from earlier this season — No. 11 University of the Pacific, No. 12 UC Davis, and No. 18 Santa Clara.

“What we’ve been talking a lot about is opportunity and process,” Minnis said. “The process is learning lessons and taking advantage of the opportunities that we did, learning our lessons and then applying them.”

—Staff writer Uy B. Pham can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at ubp.88. Follow him on X @uybpham.