WHITTIER, Calif. – The MIT water polo team looked to rally late against Whittier, however, the Engineers could not erase an early deficit as the Poets held on for the 14-9 win on Sunday afternoon.

THE BASICS:

• Score: Whittier 14, MIT 9
• Record: MIT (2-5), Whittier (2-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Junior Adam Ivatorov (Rockaway, N.Y.) tied the match at two with a powerplay goal at 2:27. Whittier went on a 3-0 run to pull ahead 5-2 at 3:52 in the second quarter on a powerplay goal from freshman Ivan Cubelic (Split, Croatia).
• Junior Kush Khamesra (Portland, Ore.) converted on a five-meter opportunity with 40 seconds left in the half. Sophomore Matthew Pryce (Johannesburg, South Africa) made it a four-goal game with his score at 7:22 in the third quarter.
• After a penalty shot goal from freshman Zander Montoya (La Verne, Calif.) gave Whitter a 9-5 lead, Pryce scored again to get MIT back to within three with 6:42 left in the third.
• The Poets scored twice to pull ahead 11-6 before goals from sophomore Kunal Rajadhyax (Vernon Hills. Ill.) and Ivatorov made it an 11-8 match heading into the final eight minutes of action.
• Whitter outscored MIT 3-1 in the fourth to hold off the Engineers' comeback.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Ivatorov and Pryce recorded hattricks for the Engineers.
• First year Joshua Woren (Aurora, Colo.) made six saves in goal for MIT.
• Cubelic led Whitter with three goals while four others scored two.

UP NEXT:

• The Engineers are off next weekend and will return to action on Saturday, September 28 when they head to Providence, R.I. for two matches beginning with an 11:00 AM match against Johns Hopkins followed by a 3:00 PM game against Brown.

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