Sports in brief

Water polo pizza party

The Harvard men’s water polo team will salute its supporters with fan appreciation festivities this evening (Oct. 25) as the club takes on visiting Brown. In addition to the action in the water, there will be free pizza (while it lasts), a trivia contest, face painting, and prizes. The match kicks off at 7 p.m. at Blodgett Pool, and admission is free.

Crimson outdrive Elis to clinch Gutshall Invite

The Harvard women’s golf team shot a blistering 318 in the second day of action at the Gutshall Invitational at the Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Penn., this past weekend (Oct. 20-21) to take first place in the eight-team tournament. The Crimson finished 329-318-647 to better Yale (328-325-653) by six strokes.

Harvard had the top two finishers in Claire Sheldon ’10 and Ali Bode ’09, who went 82-73-155 and 82-80-162, respectively.

Sheldon’s second-round effort of 73 propelled the sophomore to first place with a seven-stroke lead. In all, six Harvard golfers placed among the field’s top 17 finishers.

The victory was the second straight for the Crimson, which captured the 15-team ECAC Division I title in Williamsburg, Penn., earlier this month, and the team’s final fall outing.

Kickers bounce back with 3-2 taming of Tigers

A pair of second-half goals helped propel the 11th-ranked Harvard men’s soccer team past Ivy foe Princeton, 3-2, this past Saturday (Oct. 20) at Ohiri Field. The Crimson tallied two goals in a span of 6:33 to overcome a 2-1 halftime deficit to improve the squad to 9-2-2 (2-2 Ivy).

The win marks Harvard’s first since a 4-1 dismissal of Cornell on Oct. 6. Since then, the Cambridge men have suffered a loss and tie — both in overtime — to Brown and Holy Cross, respectively. Harvard is now tied for third place in the league standings with four league contests remaining.

Against the Tigers, sophomore Andre Akpan tallied a goal and an assist to extend his scoring streak to 10 games — a feat accomplished by just 10 players in the history of NCAA soccer. For his hot shooting, the forward was named to Top Drawer Soccer’s National Team of the Week on Oct. 22. Three short of the Harvard record for consecutive goals, Akpan leads the Ivy League in total goals (11) and assists (7).