CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The MIT water polo team earned key NWPC wins over Iona and LIU on Saturday afternoon at the Zesiger Center Pool, capped by a thrilling overtime victory over LIU.
Prior to the LIU match, the Engineers honored their senior class of David Keller, Kush Khamesra and Adam Ivatorov.
THE BASICS:
- Scores:
- MIT 16, Iona 14
- MIT 14, LIU 12
- Records: MIT (7-17 Overall, 3-6 NWPC), Iona (8-15 Overall, 4-5 NWPC); LIU (4-24 Overall, 0-9 NWPC)
HOW IT HAPPENED vs. IONA:
- After Rastko Jevdjovic tied the game at two, the Engineers rattled off four straight goals to build a 6-2 lead. Pavle Musikic scored with 14 seconds left for the Gaels to cut the MIT lead in half.
- Iona outscored MIT 5-2 in the second half. The Engineers got goals from William Ewald and Kunal Rajadhyax with Rajadhyax's 6-on-5 goal tying the match at eight with 1:16 left.
- Ivatorov gave the Engineers the lead with his goal at 5:03. Jackson Kay and Caspar Lightner scored making it 11-8, and Ivatorov's second goal of the quarter gave MIT a 12-8 advantage. Iona got one back to cut the lead to three heading into the final quarter.
- Back-to-back goals from Ivatorov to start the fourth put MIT ahead 14-9 and a goal from Lightner made it a six-goal MIT advantage. The Gaels tried to chip away at the lead and got to within three, but a goal from Derek Schaffer with 55 seconds left helped seal the 16-14 win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Ivatorov led the way with six goals followed by Lightner with three. Rajadhyax and Ewald also and multi-goal games.
- Schafer led MIT with three assists.
- Joshua Woren made eight saves and had two steals. Lundh also collected two steals in the match.
HOW IT HAPPENED vs. LIU:
- The Sharks took a quick 2-0 lead in the first before goals from Rajadhyax and Andras Beleznay tied the match up at the end of the first.
- Lucas Ramirez put LIU back on top but Ewald quickly tied the game back at three with his 6-on-5 goal.
- With the score tied at four in the third, the Sharks used a 3-0 run to build a 7-4 lead. Ivatorov stopped the LIU run, but the Sharks scored twice more to pull ahead 9-5. Schaffer and Ivatorov found the back of the cage to get the Engineers back within two after three quarters of play.
- With LIU leading 11-8, Lightner scored to make it an 11-9 match and Schaffer cut the lead to one with 3:49 left. With MIT on the 6-on-5 and 10 seconds remaining, Ivatorov scored to send the game into overtime.
- Lightner scored both goals in the first OT to give MIT a 13-11 advantage. Ramirez scored for the Sharks at 2:34, but Lightner scored again with 58 seconds left to seal the win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Lightner led the way and leads the team with 64 goals while Ivatorov scored three goals and has 61 on the year. Ivatorov is one goal shy of tying the program record in career goals.
- Woren made 10 saves and collected a team-high four steals.
- Lundh finished with three assists and three steals.
UP NEXT:
- The Engineers will host No. 14 Princeton, tomorrow, Sunday, November 9 at 2:00 PM at the Zesiger Center Pool.
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