CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The No. 19-ranked Harvard University men’s water polo team had its highest offensive output of the season in a 24-9 Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) win versus Iona University in the regular season finale at Blodgett Pool. The Crimson head toward the postseason with a 15-13 overall record and 8-2 mark in NWPC play.
Sophomore Connor Kim (Los Angeles, Calif.) and first-year Clay Carrington (Menlo Park, Calif.) powered the Harvard offense with six goals apiece. A trio of senior attackers platooned in the cage with Vilas Sogaard-Srikrishnan (Greenwich, Conn.) providing seven stops in the start and later adding a pair of goals. Jacob Tsotadze (Menlo Park, Calif.) added three saves, while Jack Burghardt (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) was credited with two saves and two goals.
The Crimson’s 24-goal performance was the most since scoring 24 in a win over Long Island University in 2024.
Harvard raced out to a 3-0 lead, forcing an Iona timeout, just 1:20 into the game. Carrington started the scoring with two penalty shots before Tsotadze forced a turnover and Sogaard-Srikrishnan sent a deep ball from the cage to Kim, who finished with a lob.The Gaels scored out of the timeout, but the Crimson responded immediately with a skip-shot score by Kim.
Iona continued to hang around in the first before Harvard stretched its lead with a 4-0 run on a goal by Emil Sogaard-Srikrishnan, back-to-back snipes by defenseman Tyler Hogan and a Dean Strauser penalty shot.
Kim notched a second-quarter hat trick as the Crimson outscored the Gaels 7-1 to take a commanding 18-15 lead at the half.
The Garls outscored the Crimson 3-2 in the third quarter, but Tsotadze made three saves in the frame.
Burghardt took over in net for the fourth and stopped the first two shots he faced.
Release courtesy Harvard University Athletics Communications
