Water Polo Cruises By Connecticut College, Drops Match to DIII No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – After earning a decisive 14-5 win over Connecticut College to open the final day of the Harvard Open, the MIT water polo team faced Division III No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer in an afternoon tilt which saw the Engineers rally to tie the Sagehens after 16 minutes of play, however Pomona used a 12-goal second half to secure an 18-11 win.

THE BASICS:

Scores:
- MIT 14, Conn 5
- No. 1 Pomona 18, MIT 11
Records: MIT (7-13 Overall), Connecticut College (3-14 Overall), DIII No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer (11-9 Overall)

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. CONN COLLEGE:

MIT raced out to a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter. Jake Schweizer led the charge with two goals while five other Engineers tallied a goal.
After a goal from Conn., Rick Lundh scored twice to complete a hat trick and put MIT up 9-1. Ethan Kim made it a nine-goal lead, but the Camels used a 7 on 6 goal as time expired in the half to make it a 10-2 contest.
Caspar Lightner and Armeet Gill tallied the lone goals for the Engineers in the third as they went into the final quarter holding a 12-4 advantage.
Charlie Baker and Jackson Kay added the final two goals for MIT in the fourth.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Nine Engineers found the back of the net led by Lundh's hat trick and two goals from Schweizer.
Luca Morocco led the team with four steals and had two assists. Derek Schaffer, Jae Wykoff, Schweizer, and Lundh all had two steals.
Kay also had two assists in the match.
Armaan Gill made 17 saves.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. POMONA-PITZER:

The Sagehens opened the match on a 3-0 run before a goal from Lundh at 3:50 got MIT on the board. After another Pomona goal made it 4-1, Lightner and Schweizer went back-to-back to get MIT to within one going into the second quarter.
A 6 on 5 goal gave the Sagehens a two-goal advantage, but Lightner and Schweizer again went back-to-back to make it a 5-5 match. A 6 on 5 goal from Max Distaso put P-P back up one, but Lightner responded with his own 6 on 5 goal to tie the game with 53 seconds left in the second.
Pomona started to put the match away, opening the third with four straight goals before a 6 on 5 goal from Schweizer stopped the run. However, Pomona scored the next three goals to take a 12-7 lead into fourth.
Schweizer scored his fourth goal of the game to make it 12-8 and Andras Beleznay found the back of the net to get MIT within three. Pomona then converted on two penalty shot goals to increase its lead to 14-9. Lightner and Schaffer scored, but MIT could not overcome the Sagehens who took the 18-11 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Lightner and Schweizer led the way with four goals each. Lightner now leads the team with 45 while Schweizer has 27. The four goals are a career-high for Schweizer.
Rajadhyax led the way with four assists while Kay had a team-high two steals.
Joshua Woren made nine saves.

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