PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The seventh-seeded Connecticut College men's water polo team suffered a 22-4 setback against second-seeded Harvard University in the opening round of the Northeast Water Polo Conference Championship on Friday afternoon at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center.

The Crimson, who had 12 players record a goal in the contest, were paced by hat tricks from Colin Le and Michael Sonsini. Goalie Tanner Furtak made eight saves in the victory.

Trailing 2-0 in the opening quarter, Conn cut into the deficit on a goal by Christian Jacobsen (North Palm Beach, Fla.) to hang close early. However, Harvard shut out the Camels for the rest of the half, a trend that continued into the fourth quarter.

Conn added three scores in the final 4:42 of regulation, but by that point the Crimson had built a comfortable advantage. Sam Guy (Portland, Ore.), Jonathan Rojas (Houston, Texas) and Jack Haddad (Springfield, Mass.) picked up goals as the offense came alive late. 

Goalies Sebastian Parilov (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Cully MacPherson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Issac Merwin (Houston, Texas) all saw action for the Camels, combining for a total of seven saves. Merwin recorded three stops while MacPherson and Parilov made two apiece. 

Conn will close out the tournament—and the season—with a pair of games on Saturday against fifth-seeded Iona University at 10:00 a.m. and either St. Francis Brooklyn or MIT at 4:00 p.m.