Men’s water polo
If the Ivy League title is on the line, the men’s water polo team seems to have a problem when facing Princeton across the pool. For the second year in a row, the Tigers scored a late goal to nip Bruno Sunday and claim the 2014 Ivy crown.
No. 15 Bruno first had to get through No. 19 Harvard to advance to the final. The Bears and Crimson have battled intensely for years, but the rivalry was one-sided in favor of the Bears this season. Having beaten Harvard twice in the last three weeks, Brown edged out a 15-14 win over its Ivy foe, and Sunday’s contest was the closest of the season.
Regulation was marked by seesawing momentum. A big Crimson lead early in the game gave way to a 7-2 Bruno run. After Harvard marched to another advantage in the fourth quarter, Bruno’s Yahel Murvitz-Lahav ’17 played hero, scoring twice in the last 3:16 to lift the Bears to a 13-12 lead. But Harvard made some last-second magic, notching a goal with six ticks on the clock to even the game.
After the teams traded goals in overtime, the stage was set for more heroics from Murvitz-Lahav. The sophomore’s fourth goal of the game earned his team a title game bid.
The championship featured action that was just as back-and-forth as the semifinal. From halftime to the closing seconds, neither team led by more than a single goal. Princeton carried a 7-6 lead into the final frame, though Rico Burke ’18 flushed the equalizer in the first minute of the quarter. But Princeton’s answer came with just over five minutes to play, and Bruno played a majority of the quarter chasing a one-goal lead. A steal by the Tigers’ Bret Hinrichs on Bruno’s last possession and a Tiger penalty shot put the finishing touches on Princeton’s repeat.
Rugby
Five Ivy League competitors have challenged the rugby team this season. None of them put up much of a fight. The Bears finished off a sweep of the conference Saturday with yet another blowout, notching a 55-14 thumping of Princeton.
USA Rugby named Kiki Morgan ’16 a first-team All American this week, and the speedy junior backed up the honor with a stellar game against the Tigers. Morgan got the scoring started with an early try, sparking a 24-0 opening run. Lauren Oxendine ’16 and Jasmine McAdams ’16 each contributed to tries in the run, and Morgan put the finishing touches on it with an electrifying 80-yard dash to the try zone.
To Princeton’s credit, the Tigers managed to put 14 points on the board against a Bruno defense that had allowed only 17 points in its last three games combined.
But Bruno continued the dominance through the second half, and the squad finished its Ivy League schedule having outscored opponents by an astronomical 299-46 margin.
As a final tune-up before the Ivy League postseason tournament, the Bears host Navy Saturday in hopes of ending the regular season undefeated.
ADVERTISEMENT
