September 2, 2010
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Men's Water Polo Opens at MIT Invitational

Co-captain Bret Voith begins his senior season with the Crimson on Saturday (photo courtesy of Gil Talbot).

Season Preview

Coaching Debuts Begin New Eras in Water Polo (PaloAltoOnline.com)

The Tournament
The Harvard men’s water polo season gets underway this weekend just a few blocks away in Cambridge at the MIT Invitational, where the men will take on preseason No. 14 St. Francis (N.Y.), Cal Lutheran, and one of the Boston area’s elite water polo club teams. The Crimson was 0-3 at this same invitational in 2009.

Sept. 4
10 a.m. vs, Boston Metro Elite club team
5:30 p.m. vs. No. 14 St. Francis (N.Y.)

Sept. 5
2:30 p.m. vs. Cal Lutheran


About Harvard
The Crimson begins its first season under the guidance of new head coach Ted Minnis. Harvard finished 2009 with a 7-16 overall record and a 3-3 mark in conference play. The men finished fifth at the Northern Division Championships last season, which was one slot better than 2008, and look to continue that climb in this year’s campaign.

Co-captains senior Bret Voith and junior Luka Babic lead a team that returns 12 players from last year’s squad. Voith was honored on the All-Northern Division first team and was tabbed to the Northern Division honor roll along with junior Mike Katzer in 2009. Sophomore Max Eliot earned Northern Division Rookie of the Week honors three times during the 2009 campaign.

 
About St. Francis
St. Francis College enters the 2010 season as the No. 14 team in the country. The Terriers finished 2009 with a 12-6 overall record. St. Francis head coach Igor Samardzija brought in five new recruits during the offseason, including three players from Serbia.

The Terriers will kick off their season at 1 p.m. Saturday against MIT before taking on Harvard in the 5:30 p.m. match-up.

About Cal Lutheran
The Cal Lutheran men's water polo team received the No. 8 spot in the Collegiate Water Polo Association preseason Division III rankings. The Kingsmen finished the 2009 campaign in the same position after posting a 9-18 overall record and a 6-4 showing in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Head Coach Craig Rond has collected 164 wins during his seven years at the helm of the Cal Lutheran water polo programs.

Cal Lutheran will take on Brown and MIT on Saturday before playing its MIT Invitational finale against the Crimson at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

Coming Up
Harvard will head to Princeton, N.J. for the Princeton Invitational Sept. 11-12 for four games against numerous preseason ranked teams, including No. 13 Santa Clara, No. 14 Princeton and No. 20 Cal Baptist, as well as a game against George Washington, who finished up 2009 with a 9-22 record.