Before last weekend's Northern Championships, the men's water polo team, seeded second in the tournament, had its sights set on a rematch with division powerhouse St. Francis College in the finals. Brown got its wish but failed to avenge its earlier loss to the defending champion Terriers, losing 9-7 in a close match in which Brown never held the lead.Bruno last went to the Northern Championship finals in 1994, so this year's team has little to be ashamed of. Still, it was no consolation for a team that believes it could have won the game with a few breaks."We didn't just want to be happy to be there," said co-captain Andy Wiener '06. "We knew that we didn't have much to lose, but we also wanted to go out and win. (Compared to last game), we definitely had much more of a chance to win."There were some similarities between this match and the one in September, which Brown lost to the Terriers 12-9 at home. St. Francis jumped out to wide halftime leads largely due to Brown's defensive breakdowns, and Brown outscored the Terriers in the second halves. But this match was closer, and whereas the Bears may have lacked the confidence to come back in the first match, this time, they were right there with St. Francis."We outscored them in the third and the fourth quarters," Wiener said. "And we definitely had more opportunities to score goals (this time). We missed a couple one-on-nobodies. Last time I don't think we could have really beaten them, but this time I think we could have won that game."St. Francis jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening quarter. After two Brown goals from Wiener and Stu Thompson '07 and a Terriers goal, the score stood at 4-2 going into the second quarter. Brown was held scoreless until the half, while St. Francis added one to its tally. To make matters worse, the goal was right before halftime, delivering a hit to Brown's morale as the teams went to the locker room.But Brown rallied, playing inspired polo as it realized it was on its last legs. After allowing a quick goal after halftime, the Bears put the bad behind them and the ball behind the St. Francis goaltender when Mike Gartner '09 scored two consecutive goals to make the score 6-4. But Brown would not draw any closer, as the scoring was even from there on out and the clock ran out with the score at 9-7.The match featured a prevailing theme for this year's team, as Brown was unable to overcome its season-long curse of inconsistent play."We had a couple defensive breakdowns, a few lapses of concentration," Wiener said. "Give them credit, they played well. They've got some great shooters and great physical players. If you make a mistake, they will capitalize."With its performance at Northerns, Brown has secured a spot in the upper division of teams in the Eastern Championships. As the fourth seed of eight, the Bears will face No. 18 Bucknell University in its opening match of the tournament.Brown played two matches prior to its championship game. In the first round, Bruno defeated Connecticut College 15-0 to notch its third double-digit margin of victory over the Camels this season. The victory earned Brown a second-round match against Harvard, and the Bears won 5-3 on a strong performance from the defense and two goals from Greg Harm '06.Harvard had beaten the team in a disappointing match at the Smith Swim Center earlier this season, so that added to the satisfaction of the victory. Additionally, for the seniors, one more win against Harvard was extremely satisfying."We knew that we were more talented and physically dominant team, but last time we didn't play like it," Wiener said. "It was important to do what we knew we could do. They scored one goal in the first quarter, and didn't score again until halfway through the fourth."The Eastern Championships are two weeks away on Nov. 13-14, and the tournament will feature the best talent on the East Coast.
