In a Northern Division away game that had implications for the end-of-year tournaments, the men's water polo team showed off its offense and defense Saturday in a 15-4 domination of underdog Queens College, a team with three wins all season. Strong team defense and individual effort by co-captain and goaltender Jay Fantone '06 kept Queens scoreless for the first half, putting the game out of reach by halftime. The Bears are now 14-9 on the season with a 3-2 division record.
Although Queens won the Eastern Championships just three seasons ago, Brown has handily beaten the Knights each of the past two seasons, recording a 17-2 win last year. Despite this, the tone of the match was serious. It was one of three within a week that have seeding implications for the Oct. 29-30 Northern Championships, making a loss both mentally and practically damaging.
The Bears came out of the gate energized and never let up, running the score to 11-0 at the half. The team then used the second half to hone certain aspects of its game, emphasizing full use of the shot clock and trying to hold off scoring on counter-attacks. Against better opponents, Brown will see fewer mistakes and employ its set offense as the main mode of play.
"The second half we slowed things down a lot, and it was good because we got to work on our half-court offense," said Luke Samson '07.
Drew Cosbie '08, playing his first game of the season after breaking his wrist in the preseason, did not waste time getting back in a groove, scoring three goals. The team also got four goals apiece from Hank Weintraub '09 and Grant LeBeau '09, as well as two from Stu Thompson '07. Co-captain Andy Wiener '06 helped distribute the ball with three assists, and Fantone ended the game with 12 stops in goal, including one on a Queens four-meter penalty shot.
Brown takes on Connecticut College today in New London, followed by its last home match of the season against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Wednesday at 8 p.m.
