Cambridge, Ma. – Junior goalie and Player of the Game Anthony Ridgley (Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) made eight second-half saves to stifle the No. 18 St. Francis College Brooklyn offensive attack and lead No. 15 Harvard University to a 9-7 victory in the Northeast Water Polo Conference Semifinal game at Blodgett Pool on Saturday, November 18.
The game was tight through the entire first half of play, with the largest lead of the game sitting at St. Francis’s 7-5 advantage over Harvard at halftime. The Crimson kicked off the game with a Charlie Owens (So. Wilton, Conn./Wilton) advantage goal with 7:14 on the clock in the first quarter following a Nikita Prokhin (Jr. Mississuaga, Ontario/Silverthorn) drawn exclusion.
Boris Posavec (So. Zagreb, Croatia/Marina) answered for St. Francis, netting the Terriers’ first goal of the game at the 4:11 mark in the first quarter. The Crimson quickly responded, with freshman Bruno Snow (Covina, Calif./Claremont) scoring his lone goal of the game to give Harvard a one-goal lead, 2-1. The back and forth continued, as two-straight St. Francis goals from Prokhin and junior Bogdan Kostic (Nis, Serbia/Nis H.S. Stevan Stremac) and another Charlie Owens goal with :01 on the clock left the two teams at an even 3-3 heading into the second frame.
Crimson sophomore Austin Sechrest (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley) took advantage of an early St. Francis drawn exclusion to score an advantage goal 1:06 into the second quarter to put the Crimson back on top, 4-3. The Terriers were not about to let the Crimson get used to this lead, however, as Will Lapkin (So. Newport Beach, Calif./Mater Dei) buried his first of a pair of second quarter goals to even the game back up at 4.
Harvard used a drawn exclusion and a timeout to its advantage with 5:28 left on the clock in the second quarter, this time with rookie Dennis Blyashov (Carlsbad, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) putting his team back up by one, 5-4, with an advantage goal. Again, the Terriers were quick to respond to the Crimson, this time in the form of three straight goals to close out the first half from Tucker Angelo (Sr. Brentwood, Calif./De La Salle), Kostic, and Lapkin to give St. Francis a 7-5 advantage over the Crimson going into halftime.
Ridgley took over the game in the second half for the Crimson, making key plays down the stretch and holding the Terriers scoreless through the entire second half.
Offensively, the Crimson were able to tie up the game with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter behind an Owens score and a 5M Blyashov penalty shot. Both of Owens’ goals, interestingly, were scored off rebounds from shots made by Blyashov.
Defensively, Ridgley was able to turn away three Terriers shots in the third frame to keep the game within reach for the Crimson.
In the fourth quarter, Jackson Enright (Fr. San Mateo, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) and Blyashov scored the final two goals for the Crimson, with Enright breaking the tie with his score at the 5:51 mark and Blyashov adding a cushion with his goal 32 seconds later. The fourth quarter, however, belonged to Ridgley, who made five saves in the frame, including two key blocks with under one minute to play to seal the Crimson victory.
While the Terrier offense struggled to get much going, freshman goalie Finn Doerries (Berlin, Germany/Albert Einstein Gymnasium) secured seven of his 12 saves in the first half to keep the Terriers ahead of the Crimson. However, offensively the Terriers had no answer for the Crimson, and Ridgley in particular, as they failed to record a goal in the second half while racking up four drawn exclusions and a penalty during that time.
With the victory, Harvard will move on to the NEWPC Championship Game on Sunday, November 19, at Blodgett Pool. The Crimson will be taking on No. 13 Princeton University for the NEWPC Championship. The Terriers will clash with No. 14 Brown University in the NEWPC Championship 3rd Place game.
| 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | — | Final | |
| Harvard University | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | 9 |
| St. Francis College Brooklyn | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 |
| Harvard Goals: | Owens (3); Blyashov (3); Snow; Sechrest; Enright | |||||
| St. Francis Goals: | Kostic (2); Lapkin (2); Angelo; Posavec; Prokhin | |||||
| Saves: | Harvard – Ridgley (10); St. Francis – Doerries (12) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Harvard – 3 ; St. Francis – 7 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Harvard – 5-for-7; St. Francis – 0-for-3) | |||||
| Sprints: | Harvard – 2-for-4 (2nd, 4th); St. Francis – 2-for-4 (1st, 3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconduct: | N/A | |||||
| Officials: | Michael Goldenberg, Humberto Navarro | |||||
Harvard #11 Jackson Enright deflects a St. Francis shot.
Harvard goalie Anthony Ridgley defends a St. Francis shot.
St. Francis #10 Tucker Angelo winds up for a shot.
