CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — No. 11-ranked Harvard University won both games of its games on Sunday, March 4, at home in Blodgett Pool by defeating Wagner College, 16-12, and Austin College, 21-10, to conclude the Brown University Bruno Classic.
First-year Andrej Basica tallied eight goals across the two games to lead the Crimson, while junior Kaleb Archer had six on the day. Senior Alex Tsotadze scored five times to go along with two assists. Senior goalie Noah Hodge had 16 saves in the win over Wagner, a season high for the Crimson.
Against Wagner, Basica caught fire in the first quarter with three goals in the opening eight minutes of the contest. The Crimson trailed 5-4 after one period before sophomore Alexandru Bucur tied the game early in the second. Goals from junior Gabe Putnam and seniors Michael Sonsini and Tsotadze saw the Crimson head into halftime tied up at eight-all.
The Crimson took control behind nine saves in the third period alone from Hodge. Basica fired in four more second half goals to go along with two more from Tsotadze. Archer and first-year Tyler Zarcu rounded out the scoring for the Crimson. Hodge made 16 saves in total to see out the victory.
Overall, Hodge made 16 saves in net, including 13 in the second half, while Basica tallied a team-high seven goals, the most by a Crimson player in one game this season. Tsotadze found the back of the net three times and Sonsini scored a pair.
Facing Austin, Archer netted five goals while sophomore Max Keck added three as the Crimson hopped past the Kangaroos. Senior Jackson Enright scored in the first quarter along with sophomores Cam Dougherty and Owen Hale, which saw Harvard jump out to a 7-0 lead. Zarcu scored in the second period, while Tsotadze also netted his second of the game, and the Crimson went into halftime leading 10-6.
Mirroring its first quarter performance, the Crimson scored seven unanswered goals in the third quarter to jump out to a 17-6 lead. Sophomore Mot Stohart began the second half scoring, while Archer, Hale, Enright, Keck and Dougherty all scored their second goals of the game in the frame. Junior goalie Nathan Wu had six of his eight saves come in the second half. Basica and fellow first-year Alex James both got on the scoresheet in the fourth quarter.
Archer scored five times in the win and completes the Bruno Classic with eight goals on the season. Wu tallied eight saves to go along with an assist and two steals, while junior Colin Le led the Crimson with three steals and three assists.
On the day, Harvard saw 13 different players score and improved its all-time Bruno Classic record to 15-12.
Historically, the Crimson now stand at 6-0 all-time versus Wagner and hold a 2-0 mark against Austin.
Information courtesy Harvard University Athletics Communications
