No. 19 Men’s Water Polo Tops MIT in OT, 9-7, Falls to No. 13 Harvard, 12-11

Saturday, November 3

Providence, RI

11:00 AM

Brown University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

No. 19 Men’s Water Polo Tops MIT in OT, 9-7, Falls to No. 13 Harvard, 12-11

11/3/2018 11:51:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Harvard Results MIT Results

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – No. 19 Brown University men's water polo topped MIT in overtime, 9-7, and fell to No. 13 Harvard University, 12-11, in a pair of Northeast Water Polo Conference games at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center on Saturday.

In their final games of the regular season, the Bears (17-12, 6-4 NWPC) rallied past the Engineers (9-11, 2-7 NWPC) – the No. 5 ranked team in Division III – with a 3-0 run to start overtime before dropping a narrow decision to the nationally ranked Crimson (20-7, 8-1 NWPC) in their second game of the day.

Senior Travis Bouscaren (Cambridge, Mass.) led the Bears with five goals on the day while junior Armen Deirmenjian (Beverly Hills, Calif.) and Aidan Reilly (Los Angeles, Calif.) scored four and three goals respectively. In the cage, sophomore goalkeeper Riad Hallal (Coronado, Calif.) made 11 saves against MIT, and freshman goalie Ugo Piovan (Vouliagmeni, Greece) stopped 10 shots against Harvard.

"We got Armen Deirmenjian and Santiago Nunez back and that helped us compete," Brown head coach Felix Mercado said. "We still need to get better in limiting turnovers and exclusions away from the ball. I feel that we are right in the mix of things, but we know it will be a hard road if we want to win a championship."

Next, Brown will host the NWPC Championship at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center from Nov. 16-18. The Bears will open play at the tournament on Friday, Nov. 16 with final seeding to be determined on Sunday, Nov. 4.

Game 1 – No. 19 Brown 9, MIT 7 (OT)

Senior Travis Bouscaren (Cambridge, Mass.) scored four goals to lead No. 19 Brown to a 9-7 overtime win over MIT in its first game of the day on Saturday morning.

Facing a 6-5 deficit at the end of three quarters, the Bears scored the only goal in the fourth quarter and netted the first three goals of overtime to defeat the Engineers – the No. 5 ranked team in Division III.

Junior James Thygesen (Menlo Park, Calif.) tallied two goals, an assist, and two steals while senior Spencer Carroll (Newport Beach, Calif.) totaled a goal, an assist, four steals, and two field blocks.

Junior Armen Deirmenjian (Beverly Hills, Calif.) notched a goal and two field blocks, junior Hudson Rawlings (Murrieta, Calif.) distributed three assists, and freshman Matt Simko (Coral Gables, Fla.) netted a goal.

In the goal, sophomore net-minder Riad Hallal (Coronado, Calif.) blocked 11 shots and handed out an assist.

Brown and MIT stood tied at 1-1 at the end of the first quarter with Thygesen scoring a power-play goal for the Bears off an assist from Rawlings.

The Bears opened the second quarter on a 3-1 run to take a 4-2 lead with 2:45 left in the half. Bouscaren scored a pair of goals during the run, including a 5-meter penalty shot, with Thygesen accounting for the streak's other marker. Brown led 4-3 at halftime.

Following a pair of MIT goals to start the third quarter, Deirmenjian scored off a counter off a pass from Hallal to knot the score at 5-5. A marker from MIT with 23 seconds left in the period gave the visitors a 6-5 edge heading to the fourth.

Carroll tied the score at 6-6 at the 5:51 mark of the fourth quarter, converting a 6-on-5 goal from the right wing off a pass from Thygesen.

Simko opened overtime's scoring before Bouscaren added a tally in the first overtime session to push Brown ahead 8-6. Bouscaren scored again in the second extra period before MIT netted the contest's final goal.

The Bears swept the regular season series from the Engineers, 2-0, as Brown bested MIT in overtime, 11-10, on Oct. 6.

Prior to the game, Brown recognized the members of its senior class – Travis Bouscaren (Cambridge, Mass.), Spencer Carroll (Newport Beach, Calif.), and Santiago Nunez (Miami, Fla.) as well as student assistant coach Will Renken (South Pasadena, Calif.) – for their hard work and dedication to the program over the last four years.

Brown 9, MIT 7 (OT)
Brown....................... 1…3…1…1…3…9
MIT............................ 1…2…3…0…1…7
Brown Goals: Bouscaren 4, Thygesen 2, Carroll, Deirmenjian, Simko.
Brown Saves: Hallal 11.

Game 2 – No. 13 Harvard 12, No. 19 Brown 11

Junior Armen Deirmenjian and sophomore Aidan Reilly each scored a hat trick, but No. 19 Brown fell to No. 13 Harvard, 12-11, in its second game of the day on Saturday afternoon.

Facing a 6-5 halftime deficit, the Bears pulled ahead 9-7 entering the fourth quarter before the Crimson rallied with five goals in the final frame to take the win.

Deirmenjian (Beverly Hills, Calif.) added two assists and two steals to his three goals while Reilly (Los Angeles, Calif.) finished with three goals and an assist.

Senior Santiago Nunez (Miami, Fla.) scored two goals, senior Spencer Carroll (Newport Beach, Calif.) contributed three assists, and two steals, and senior Travis Bouscaren (Cambridge, Mass.) chipped in a goal and an assist.

Sophomore Adam Fuller (Santa Barbara, Calif.) tacked on a goal and an assist, and freshman Matt Simko (Coral Gables, Fla.) charted a goal and two ejections drawn.

Freshman goalie Ugo Piovan (Vouliagmeni, Greece) registered 10 saves and an assist.

Brown and Harvard played to a 1-1 draw in the first quarter with Nunez netting the Bears' goal. After Harvard went up 3-1 early in the second stanza, Deirmenjian pulled Brown within 3-2. Nunez's second goal of the game kept Brown within 5-3 before the Crimson gained a 6-3 edge.

Closing out the first half, goals from Bouscaren and Fuller brought Brown within 6-5 of Harvard at the break.

Following a goal from Harvard to start the second half, Brown scored four unanswered goals to take a 9-7 advantage at the end of the period. Reilly and Deirmenjian each scored twice during the run.

Harvard tied the score at 9-9 with 4:57 to play before a goal from Simko gave the Bears back the lead. The Crimson then used a 3-0 run to grab a 12-10 edge with 1:55 to play. Reilly scored with 1:32 remaining before the visitors held on for the win.

Brown and Harvard split the regular season series, 1-1. The Bears topped the Crimson, 11-9, on Oct. 6.

Harvard 12, Brown 11
Brown....................... 1…4…4…2…11
Harvard.................... 1…5…1…5…12
Brown Goals: Deirmenjian 3, Reilly 3, Nunez 2, Bouscaren, Fuller, Simko.
Brown Saves: Piovan 10.