{"id":402319,"date":"2019-11-15T15:30:01","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T22:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=402319"},"modified":"2019-11-15T15:04:06","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T22:04:06","slug":"twenty-seven-and-0-wow-but-harvard-mens-water-polo-has-more-to-prove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/twenty-seven-and-0-wow-but-harvard-mens-water-polo-has-more-to-prove\/","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-seven and 0? Wow! But Harvard Men\u2019s Water Polo Has More to Prove"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ten years ago, Mike Graff, <\/strong>Harvard \u201973 and board chair for USA Water Polo, might never have envisioned a time when his beloved Crimson would not only run the table but be expected to secure a third trip to the national championship tournament in four years. With a surprisingly easy 14-5 win over crosstown rival MIT at Blodgett Pool, though, the Harvard men\u2019s water polo team wrapped up a signal accomplishment: the first-ever undefeated regular season<\/a> in Eastern collegiate Division I water polo history.<\/p>\n

Asked to comment, Graff said simply, \u201cGreat regular season. All credit to coaches and players. On to the conference championships.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"harvard_universitycrimson\"That understated response tacitly acknowledged a remarkable change<\/a> in Harvard polo fortunes under Head Coach Ted Minnis<\/strong>. Graff was part of an influential group of Crimson water polo alums that in 2010 hired the former Stanford Club coach, and he is not alone in marveling at the team\u2019s success. Mike Byrd<\/strong>, who captained the Crimson in 2007, when they went 14-16 overall, considered how much difference a decade under Minnis has made.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest change is that Ted has transformed the team into a program,\u201d Byrd said in an email. \u201cHe has put together a great coaching staff that you see scouting and recruiting at [Junior Olympics] and other big youth tournaments\u2026. It seems that every class coming in has more talent than the class going out, even with graduating All-Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best-ever Crimson record heretofore was 27-7 in 2016, which was also the first time Harvard qualified for NCAAs after four decades of futility<\/span>. Minnis\u2019 men have now totaled 20 or more wins over the past six years and gone to NCAAs in both 2016 and 2017. Given the program\u2019s success in 2019, Harvard will be favored in the upcoming Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Tournament. The Crimson are no longer the hunter but the hunted.<\/p>\n

Unbeaten\u2026 for the moment<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Unprecedented in the East, going undefeated in a season is not uncommon on the West Coast. In the past decade, UCLA (2015) and USC (2008, 2012) went unscathed in run-ups to national titles. Still, the accomplishment this season by Minnis\u2019 team is remarkable.<\/p>\n

Their run was not without obstacles, however. Harvard persevered in seven contests where the difference was one or two goals.<\/p>\n

\"minnis-mercado-oct19\"

Friends and rivals: Harvard’s Ted Minnis and Brown’s Felix Mercado.<\/p><\/div>\n

At their own invitational in October, for instance, the Crimson beat George Washington by a single goal, before weathering an epic match-up with Division III power Pomona-Pitzer in which the Crimson prevailed<\/a> in sudden death overtime. The following day they fell behind by three goals before rallying to beat Bucknell by one.<\/p>\n

Include Felix Mercado<\/strong>, coach of NWPC rival Brown, as a believer in what Minnis and his team have accomplished. But, he says, \u201cI didn\u2019t expect them to go undefeated, especially when they went to California,\u201d referring to a long weekend in Santa Clara for the Julian Fraser Memorial. \u201cThey beat San Jose State without Noah Hodge<\/strong>, which is a testament to their back-up goalie (Nathan Wu<\/strong>) and their team. That won me over as far as saying that this team is legit.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Harvard\u2019s Nathan Wu Named October 28 NWPC Defensive Player & Rookie of the Week<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n

Mercado, who has faced Harvard\u2019s men twice each year since taking over at Brown in 2007, observed that a number of the Crimson\u2019s games could have gone either way. Putting his opponent\u2019s success in context, he noted, \u201c[T]hey’ve gone through the gauntlet and survived more than run over anyone,\u201d he noted. \u201cA missed call here, a missed shot there\u2026maybe they have two or three losses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact [is] they have the best goalie on the East Coast in Hodge,\u201d Mercado added. \u201cThey have arguably one of the best shooters in Dennis Blyashov<\/strong>. Their depth is their strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Brown coach\u2014whose team would only face Harvard if both teams advance to the NWPC final on November 24 at MIT\u2019s Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center\u2014challenged the rest of his conference to rise up against the Crimson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a very good team and they\u2019re the favorites,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s up to all of us to beat them\u2014not just Brown but Princeton, St. Francis…\u201d<\/p>\n

Change that resonates on multiple levels<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s no coincidence that Harvard\u2019s success followed a major change in the conference structure for Eastern men\u2019s polo. A reorganization prior to the 2016 season by the CWPA created two distinct entities out of what was once a 27-team behemoth. The new Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Water Polo Conferences were also granted automatic berths at NCAAs. Previously, only one Eastern team was eligible to compete for the national championship.<\/p>\n

\"blyashov_harvard\"

Dennis Blyashov. Photo Courtesy: Harvard Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n

According to Dan Sharadin<\/strong>, long-time commissioner of the CWPA, the realignment had a distinct impact on the quality of Eastern polo. In an email, he explained that traditional configurations, such as Ivy League squads Brown, Harvard and Princeton, now in the NWPC, were honored, and geographic proximity was considered as well, e.g., Harvard versus MIT. Long-standing rivalries important to alumni, such as Princeton versus Navy, or the Judge Cup between Fordham and Iona, are maintained through non-conference scheduling and select invitationals.<\/p>\n

[MPSF Breakup Causes a Chain Reaction In the East<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n

Sharadin notes that, since the split, programs at George Washington and Fordham in the MAWPC and Harvard in the NWPC have risen to the top of their respective conferences. More traditional powers, such as Princeton and Bucknell, also have enjoyed continued success.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike any sport, water polo has ebbs and flows\u2014rises and descents,\u201d he said. \u201cPrior to the formation of the NWPC and MAWPC, Brown won the Eastern Championship [in 2014], breaking a long streak of not being conference champion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reconfiguration of teams began prior to the “split,” Sharadin said.\u00a0As an example, he pointed to the emergence of Wagner, which in 2017 advanced to the MAWPC final in the program\u2019s second year of existence, of how parity has taken hold in the East.<\/p>\n

Alumni support and a little<\/strong> \u2018tude<\/strong><\/h3>\n

But this doesn\u2019t fully explain how Harvard\u2019s success has endured through multiple seasons, and resulted in an unblemished record in 2019. Byrd attributes this to the extraordinary support provided by the Friends of Harvard Water Polo, a group of program alumni. The group underwrites Minnis\u2019s salary, allowing him to recruit some of the country\u2019s best prospects.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs alumni, we feel a tremendous sense of pride with what Ted and everyone has accomplished recently,\u201d said Byrd. \u201cIt’s taken hard work and support from a lot of people to get to this point, most notably the Friends of Harvard Water Polo and its president Andy Freed<\/strong> (’90).\u201d<\/p>\n

But Byrd, now an assistant coach with a new women\u2019s program<\/a> at Long Island University, is conscious of how fleeting polo success can be.<\/p>\n

\"20191020

Harvard’s Austin Sechrest always play with passion. Photo Courtesy: Gil Talbot<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWater polo teams are never 100% safe from the chopping block, as we’ve seen with some very successful programs over the years on the East Coast, so it’s imperative to have that past groundwork and future support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of what keeps his team sharp is the attitude that Minnis inspires. The clich\u00e9 of the embattled yet aggressive underdog is not one usually associated with one of the world\u2019s most prestigious academic institutions. But it\u2019s a staple for Harvard polo; so much so that in a recent interview the Crimson coach praised Charlie Owens<\/strong>, currently a senior co-captain, for this very attitude.<\/p>\n

[Winning is Contagious: Ted Minnis and Charlie Owens of Harvard Men\u2019s Water Polo<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing about this team is our senior leadership, and it starts here with our senior captain, and everything Charlie has done as a water polo player, he brings to this team,\u201d Minnis said. \u201cHe always plays with a chip on his shoulder\u2014and I think he puts that chip on our shoulders; that\u2019s what he brings to our program.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the postseason it\u2019s always 0-0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Coach Mercado of Brown knows that whatever his rival is preaching to his players now, it starts with this: \u201cThe regular season means nothing!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that Teddy\u2019s going to prepare them where the undefeated season doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone\u2019s starting with the same record.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[B]ecause they\u2019ve struggled and barely won some of these games, they can use that for motivation. If they were winning every game by four or five goals, maybe they\u2019d be more vulnerable. The fact that they\u2019re not dominating everyone, it allows [Minnis] to use a \u2018We\u2019ve still got work to do\u2019 mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though the Crimson are favored in the postseason, Mercado expects that underdog attitude will remain a big part of their approach.<\/p>\n

Underdogs? The cradle of Presidents and Nobel laureates? Hey, whatever works.<\/p>\n

With Chip Brenner<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ten years ago, Mike Graff, Harvard \u201973 and board chair for USA Water Polo, might never have envisioned a time when his beloved Crimson would not only run the table<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":402324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[71331,71214,1834,70599,26496,64813,63407,549,47925,70473,60192,116610,61628,3311,71212,72479,3025,60622,3613],"class_list":["post-402319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-water-polo","tag-andy-freed","tag-austin-sechrest","tag-brown","tag-charlie-owens","tag-dan-sharadin","tag-dennis-blyashov","tag-felix-mercado","tag-harvard","tag-long-island-university","tag-mawpc","tag-michael-randazzo","tag-mike-byrd","tag-mike-graff","tag-mit","tag-noah-hodge","tag-nwpc","tag-princeton","tag-ted-minnis","tag-usa-water-polo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nTwenty-seven and 0? 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