SANTA CLARA/SAN JOSE, Calif. — The No. 14-ranked Harvard University men’s water polo team wrapped up its trip to the West Coast for the 2022 Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament by topping Fresno Pacific University, 21-7, and host/No. 17 Santa Clara University, 15-13, prior to dropping a 14-13 contest at No. 15 San Jose Sate University.
On Saturday, October 22, the Crimson bucked the Broncos of Santa Clara by thanks to a 10-7 scoring advantage in the first half. Santa Clara rallied back in the contest by outscoring Harvard 4-3 in the third quarter prior to both teams posting pairs of goals in the fourth quarter for the 15-13 final score.
James Rozolis-Hill led the way with seven goals and an assist, while Alex Tsotadze posted four goals and a pair of helpers. Kaleb Archer (one goal, one assist), Michael Sonsini (one goal, six assists), Mot Stohart (one goal, one assist) and Owen Hale (one goal) also found the cage with netminder Noah Hodge making 11 saves to earn the victory.
Taking on Fresno Pacific, the Crimson jumped out to a 4-1 lead by the conclusion of the first quarter, added a 6-1 outburst in the second quarter and notched a 6-1 advantage in the third on the way to a 21-7 win.
Rozolis-Hill and Hale led the way as each posted five goals, while Stothart, Tyler Zarcu, Rishi Mohan and Cam Dougherty each accounted for pairs. Mason Hunt, Roger Brockett and Alex James tacked on solo markers in the victory.
On Sunday, October 23, Harvard concluded its West Coast trip with a 14-13 loss at San Jose State.
The Crimson jumped out to a 1-0 lead 50 seconds into the game as Stothart punched in an ice-breaker, but SJSU pulled ahead with back-to-back man-up strikes from Bence Szabo (5:44) and Niels Hofmeijer (4:49). Archer squared the squads at two-all by putting away a six-on-five at 4:09, but Garrett Johnson answered with a power-play conversion of his own at 3:14 to allow San Jose State to exit the opening eight minutes with a 3-2 lead.
Rozolis-Hill (7:16) and Stothart (6:15, man-up) turned the tables for Harvard by commencing the second quarter with consecutive markers before a five-meter penalty shot from Bende Pardi (6:00) evened the damage at four-all.
Harvard achieved the better of play over the remainder of the second quarter/first half as Stothart (5:34) and Rozolis-Hill (3:22; 1:45 man-up) sandwiched a tally by Szabo (4:07) to allow the Crimson to enter the break with a 7-5 lead.
Hofmeijer (5:58) and Rozolis-Hill (5:24) exchanged scores to begin the third quarter, but Pardi (1:47, 1:25) balanced the scoreboard at eight-all before Hale returned the lead to Harvard with one minute remaining.
The lead lasted for 24 seconds until Szabo slipped through the Crimson defense to net the equalizer with 36 ticks left on the third quarter clock.
Deadlocked at nine-all heading into the final eight minutes of regulation, Harvard fell behind for the first time as Szabo (7:39) and Laszlo Szieben (6:52) provided the Spartans with an 11-9 lead. Stothart (5;54, man-up) and Rozolis-Hill (5:18) pulled Harvard even with San Jose State at 11-all, but back-to-back scores from Itay Nemet (4:34, man-up) and Mael Suchet (2:17) pushed the Spartans back in front at 13-11.
Archer attempted to rally the Crimson back into the contest by burying a shot at the 1:38 mark, but Szabo notched his fifth tally of the contest wit 17 seconds left to return San Jose State’s lead to a pair at 14-12. Hodge completed the scoring by heaving home a marker with 11 ticks on the clock to close the final gap to 14-13.
For Harvard, Rozolis-Hill and Stothart racked up five and four markers, respectively. Archer chipped in a pair and the duo of Hale and Hodge both scored once.
