ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Division III No. 8 MIT water polo team rallied for a thrilling overtime win over Mount St. Mary's (Md.) to open the Navy Open before falling No. 17 Navy to end the day.
THE BASICS:
- Scores:
- MIT 15, Mount St. Mary's 14
- Navy 25, MIT 9
- Records: MIT (2-4 Overall, 0-0 NWPC), Mount St. Mary's (3-6, 0-0 MAWPC), Navy (7-5, 2-0 MAWPC)
HOW IT HAPPENED vs. MOUNT ST. MARY'S (MD.):
- The Mount held a 3-1 lead after eight minutes of play as Caspar Lightner got MIT on the board at 4:01.
- Two more goals from the Mountaineers in the second increased their lead to 5-1 before a goal from Derek Schaffer and Rick Lundh cut the Mount's lead to 5-3.
- A 4-0 run to start the third increased the Mountaineers' advantage to 9-3 before a goal from Andras Beleznay helped kick-start a 5-1 MIT run that brought the Engineers to within two goals.
- Two goals to start the quarter for the Mount made it a 12-8 match, but the Engineers rattled off four-straight goals as Caspar Lightner tied the match at 12 with his score with 1:20 left in regulation.
- Adam Ivatorov kicked off the scoring for MIT in the first OT period as the teams went back-and-forth before entering the golden-goal period tied at 14.
- With 1:38 remaining, Lightner found the back of the net for the game-winning goal to give the Engineers the thrilling 15-14 win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Lightner and Lundh led MIT with four goals each. Lightner also led the team with five assists.
- Kunal Rajadhyax and Ewald led the Engineers with three steals.
- Armaan Gill made eight stops in cage for the Engineers.
HOW IT HAPPENED vs. NAVY:
- Navy took a quick 3-0 lead before goals from Ivarotov and Avi Narula made it a one-score match. From there, the Midshipmen scored the next seven goals to go up 10-2.
- Narula stopped the Navy run and Beleznay and William Ewald also recorded goals for MIT, which went into the break trailing 14-5.
- Lundh got a goal at 6:26 to make it 15-6 and another goal from Ewald made the score 17-7.
- Navy went on another 7-0 run to pull ahead 23-7 as Beleznay ended the run as the host took the 25-9 win with a goal from Ivatorov accounting for the final score of the match.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Ivatorov, Ewald, Belezany, and Narula all had two goals for MIT.
- Lundh led the team with two steals. Ewald and Derek Schaffer each posted two assists in the game.
- Joshua Woren made eight saves in net.
UP NEXT:
- MIT wraps up the Navy Open tomorrow, Sunday September 14 with an 11:20 AM contest against Salem University followed by a 2:40 PM match against Connecticut College.
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