MIT 8, HARVARD 4

For any fan walking into Blodgett Pool for the Harvard men’s water polo home opener, it might have been difficult to decide which team was actually the host. MIT fans filled the stands and unleashed loud and continuous cheers, as their team pushed on for an 8-4 victory in an energetic and physical game.

The Crimson opened its season with a 13-5 victory against the Engineers a month ago, but junior two-meter Max Eliot knew that result would be tough to match.

“We knew [MIT was] going to come out fired up,” Eliot said. “We came into [the game] with a fresh mindset. We just did not do what we needed to do [Saturday], and it showed.”

With senior goalie Alex Popp out for at least another week with an elbow ligament injury, Field started in between the posts this weekend. Field and the Crimson defense began the game strongly, with the goalie notching some impressive saves.

But the Engineers scored two goals, while Harvard struggled offensively. Eliot registered numerous shots off weak passes but could not beat MIT goalie Columbus Leonard. The senior provided the Engineers with crucial saves all game and stifled many of the Crimson’s attacks.

While the first half remained relatively even, MIT came into the third period firing. Sophomore attacker Andrew Dorne scored four times in just over two minutes of game time, and the Engineers jumped to a huge lead, 8-2.

“I think we were getting frustrated with our offense, and we were not focused on defense,” Eliot said. “We let our defensive mistakes kill us in [the third] quarter.”

Harvard searched for an answer to this streak and a way back into the game. Co-captains Kevin DiSilvestro and Luka Babic orchestrated a counter attack that led to a goal just before the end of the third period. But MIT would remain defensively strong in the fourth period, as the visitors ran out the clock and claimed the victory.