The third time was not the charm for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Wednesday night, as the men's water polo team registered its third victory over the Engineers this season. Competing in front of a medium-sized crowd and the large-sized Brown Band in the Smith Swim Center, Brown defeated MIT 12-5 behind dominant second-half defense and opportunistic scoring.
It was a proper sendoff for the team's four seniors - co-captains Andy Wiener '06 and Jay Fantone '06, Graeme Lee-Wingate '06 and Greg Harm '06 - who were competing in their final home match. The win secures the second seed in the upcoming Northern Championships for Brown, behind St. Francis College, which defeated the Bears earlier this season in a close 12-9 match.
Bruno got off to a fast start when Wiener scored two goals within the first minute-and-a-half, including a breakaway goal. Four minutes later, Stu Thompson '07 registered a 6-on-5 goal on a perfect cross from Hank Weintraub '09, who received an accurate heave from goaltender Fantone and drew the ejection.
The second quarter saw MIT claw back to make the score 3-2, but the Bears kept the Beavers behind their dams with a goal from Luke Samson '07. MIT responded again, but Samson snuck the ball past the goaltender on a second-chance shot with under two seconds remaining to take a 5-3 lead into halftime.
After a quick MIT score cut the lead to one, Brown rattled off seven straight goals and only allowed one more tally from the Engineers, which did not come until garbage time. Among the highlights was a goal by Wiener via an assist from Weintraub on a crafty 2-on-2 opportunity, as well as a four-meter penalty score by Mike Gartner '09 and a breakaway goal from Lee-Wingate.
To Wiener, the second-half surge was no surprise.
"They have one very good player and a couple of decent players, and the rest are pretty weak," Wiener said. "Their guys get tired, and they struggle. It was the same thing the last time we played them here - they can't play with us for 28 minutes because they're not deep enough."
Defensively, Fantone blocked a number of shots but saw just as many sail wide of the goal or bounce off the cage. On three straight possessions in the third quarter, MIT failed to register a shot on goal during the allotted 35 seconds, as Brown defenders played aggressively and kept the Beavers from passing the ball to the whole set.
"If we can control them and our whole guard is doing (a) very good job, they'll have a tough time beating Jay from outside," Wiener said.
Wiener was also impressed by the play of Gerrit Adams '08, noting that "he basically shut down their best player (the whole set) ... he didn't play in either of the last two games and has been out of practice, but he played well."
The victory was Brown's second in as many days, having defeated Connecticut College 16-2 in a relatively unexciting away game on Tuesday. Drew Cosbie '08 netted a hat trick and then some with five goals, while Weintraub kept the ball moving with five assists. Defensively, Alex Robb '08 led the Bears with three steals on the defensive end.
With Northerns just over a week away, the Bears have found some momentum and can enjoy the benefits of being one of the top seeds, such as a potential rematch with MIT in the second round.
Having netted victories over every team in the division except for St. Francis, the odds of Bruno advancing deep in the tournament appear to be very good.
Wiener, however, stressed the need to avoid complacency and keep up the same level of determination.
"Our biggest issue is our consistency," Wiener said. "We're a talented team, and we need to be consistent and play up to the level that we're capable of."
The Northern Championships will take place Oct. 29-30 in Cambridge, Mass.
