LEWISBURG, Pa. – The MIT water polo team scored 39 goals en route to a 2-0 day on the opening day of the Bucknell Invitational in the Kinney Natatorium. The Engineers saw 15 different players score a goal during the day.
THE BASICS:
- Scores:
- MIT 24, Mercyhurst 11
- MIT 15, Mount St. Mary's (MD.) 10
- Records: MIT (2-4 Overall), Mercyhurst (1-9 Overall), Mount St. Mary's (3-6 Overall)
HOW IT HAPPENED vs. MERCYHURST:
- MIT took a 5-2 lead after eight minutes of play. Armeet Gill and Caspar Lightner scored twice for MIT in the opening frame while Andras Beleznay opened the scoring with a 6 on 5 score.
- Mercyhurst began to chip away at the MIT lead in the second, pulling to within one at 7-6 off a goal from Petar Vujovic. Lightner then scored three-straight, including two on penalty shots to close the quarter with MIT in the lead, 10-6.
- Beleznay increased the MIT advantage to five and tacked on another goal after a goal from Ben Gavran had cut the Engineers lead to four. William Ewald and Luca Morocco scored back-to-back goals to give MIT a 14-9 advantage and Lightner added his sixth to increase the MIT lead to 15-9. The Engineers got the final two goals of the third on scores from Jake Schweizer and Joshua Woren to send MIT into the final quarter with a four-goal lead.
- The Engineers outscored the Lakers 7-1 in the final quarter. Lightner, Beleznay, David Ranaudo, Jackson Kay, Nicholas Soule, and Jae Wykoff all scored for MIT as the Engineers earned the 24-11 win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Twelve different Engineers scored in the game, led by a career-high seven for Lightner. Lightner is the seventh player in program to score seven goals in a match.
- Woren, Morocco, Wykoff and Charlie Baker all got their first collegiate goals. Woren also made three saves in cage.
- Schweizer led the way with four steals. Kieran Kearns and Kunal Rajadhyax each had two assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED vs. MOUNT ST. MARY'S:
- It was a low scoring first quarter with the Engineers holding a 3-2 lead after eight minutes of play. Kay got the scoring started while Rick Lundh added the other two goals for MIT.
- A three-goal run to open the second increased the Engineer lead to 6-2. The Mount stopped the MIT run with a goal from Neven Cerkez to cut the MIT lead in half. Goals from Lightner and Lundh put the Engineers up 9-5, but Cerkez scored with six seconds left in the half to send the teams into the break with MIT holding a 9-6 lead.
- It was a five goal second quarter with the Mount holding the 3-2 advantage. Rajadhyax and Lightner scored goals from MIT, which took a 12-8 lead into the final quarter.
- Aaron Tarr scored to make it a 12-9 match but back-to-back goals from Schweizer and Lundh put MIT in control with a five-goal lead. Beleznay made it a 15-goal game for the Engineers with a last-second goal from Cerkez accounting for the 15-10 final score.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Lundh led the way with four goals while Lightner and Beleznay each had a hattrick.
- The Engineers offense saw eight different players record a goal.
- Woren made 11 stops in net and had one steal.
- Kearns finished with two assists.
UP NEXT:
- The Engineers will conclude the Bucknell Invitational tomorrow, Sunday, September 20 with a 9:30 AM match against Salem University.
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