No. 4 Seed Men’s Water Polo Falls to No. 1 Harvard in NWPC Semis, 11-10

Saturday, November 17

Providence, RI

5:00 PM

Brown University

Harvard University

No. 4 Seed Men’s Water Polo Falls to No. 1 Harvard in NWPC Semis, 11-10

11/17/2018 9:34:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Results

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Junior James Thygesen scored four goals, and senior Travis Bouscaren netted three goals, but No. 4 seed Brown University men's water polo fell to No. 1 seed Harvard University, 11-10, in the 2018 Northeast Water Polo Conference Championship semifinals on Saturday evening at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center.

The No. 16 nationally ranked Bears (18-13) held a 7-5 lead at halftime and tied the contest at 8-8, 9-9, and 10-10 in the fourth quarter before the visiting and No. 12 ranked Crimson (22-7) scored with two seconds remaining to earn the victory.

"Sometimes the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn't," Brown head coach Felix Mercado said. "We had two three-goal leads, but I give credit to Harvard for making plays when they needed to. We have had a great season and still have one more game to play together as a team tomorrow."

Brown will play No. 2 seed St. Francis Brooklyn (8-15) in the third-place game on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Harvard will meet No. 3 seed and No. 18 ranked Princeton (18-10) in the first-place game on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

Thygesen (Menlo Park, Calif.) led all scorers with his four goals, including two game-tying goals in the fourth quarter. The hat trick from Bouscaren (Cambridge, Mass.) included a game-tying goal in the final frame.

Juniors Armen Deirmenjian (Beverly Hills, Calif.) and Hudson Rawlings (Murrieta, Calif.) and sophomore Aidan Reilly (Los Angeles, Calif.) each netted one goal.

Senior Spencer Carroll (Newport Beach, Calif.) tallied three assists and four steals, Deirmenjian handed out two assists, and Bouscaren came up with two steals.

In the cage, freshman goalkeeper Ugo Piovan (Vouliagmeni, Greece) made 11 saves, including four stops in the fourth quarter.

The Bears opened the game with a 3-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest as Thygesen scored on the left wing before Bouscaren and Deirmenjian both converted on counters. After a pair of Harvard tallies, a goal from Rawlings pushed Brown ahead 4-2 at the end of the first quarter.

Following a Crimson goal, the Bears used a 3-1 run to extend their lead to 7-4 with 1:06 left in the first half. Reilly and Thygesen each converted a 5-meter penalty shot to start the run before Bouscaren notched a goal from beyond five meters. Brown took a 7-5 advantage into halftime.

The Crimson scored the only two goals of the third quarter, sending the contest to its final frame knotted at 7-7.

A turnaround shot from Bouscaren tied the score at 8-8 with 6:12 remaining, and a goal from the right wing from Thygesen evened the score at 9-9 with 3:25 left. After Harvard went up 10-9 with 55 seconds to play, Thygesen converted his second 5-meter penalty to equalize at 10-10 with 33 seconds to go. The Crimson responded with the game winner with two seconds on the clock.

Brown moved to 1-2 vs. Harvard this season. The Bears topped the Crimson, 11-9, on the road on Oct. 6 and fell to Harvard, 12-11, at home on Nov. 3.

Harvard 11, Brown 10
Brown....................... 4…3…0…3…10
Harvard.................... 2…3…2…4…11
Brown Goals: Thygesen 4, Bouscaren 3, Deirmenjian, Rawlings, Reilly.
Brown Saves: Piovan 11.