THE BASICS:
 
- Scores:
No. 4 MIT - 14, Austin - 10
 
- Records: No. 4 MIT (6-11), Austin (5-10)

- Location: Erie, Pa. (David M. Hallman III Aquatics Center)
 
- The Lead: The No. 4 MIT water polo team sealed a trip to the USA Water Polo Division III National Championship with a 14-10 victory over Austin College in the CWPA Division III Eastern Championship. The Engineers advance to the title game where they will face defending champion Johns Hopkins.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
- The 'Roos jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first, but MIT went on a 4-1 run to take a 5-4 lead with a goal from junior Evan Kowal (South Pasadena, Calif.) at 3:03 giving the Engineers their first lead of the game.
 
- Austin scored at 2:50 to tie the match heading into the second quarter of play.
 
- MIT outscored the Roos 3-1 in the second on goals from senior Miller Geschke (Los Altos, Calif.), first-year Adam Ivatorov (Rockaway, N.Y.), and first-year Luke Apostolides (Greenwich, Conn.) to send the Engineers into the break with an 8-6 lead.
 
- The two teams could not get much offense going in the third as each put up two goals. Ivatorov scored both goals for the Engineers in the quarter to give MIT a 10-8 lead going into the final eight minutes of play.
 
- Austin made it an 11-9 contest with a goal at 5:45 but Geschke scored to put the Engineers back up three at 5:06. The Roos responded with a score at 3:04 to cut the MIT lead to two, but goals from Kowal and sophomore Richard Yun (Irvine, Calif) sealed the victory for MIT.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Geschke led MIT with five goals, four assists, and three steals. He now has 269 career goals and 198 career steals.
 
- Ivatorov ended the day with four goals, one assist, and one steal. Apostolides finished with a goal, assist, and three steals.
 
- Kowal added three goals and two steals.
 
- Junior Colin Weaver (Huntington Beach, Calif.) finished with 17 saves and three steals.
 
UP NEXT:

- MIT is back in the pool tomorrow against rival Johns Hopkins for a 12 pm matchup in the Championship game.

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