CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Division III No. 7-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) water polo team fell to Wagner College, 15-13, and Gannon University, 18-11, on the final day of Brown University’s Bruno Classic in games hosted by Harvard University at Blodgett Pool.
The Engineers appeared primed to overcome Wagner in the day’s opening game.
After Wagner got on the board to go up 1-0, Adam Ivatorov and Jackson Kay found the back of the net to put MIT up 3-1.
The Seahawks pulled even and eventually took a 6-4 lead at 3:47 in the second quarter. Goals from Caspar Lightner and Avi Narula brought MIT even and Rick Lundh buried a shot at 1:36 to give the Engineers the lead.
Wagner scored the final two goals of the half to go up 8-7 and Laszlo Strasser opened the third with a goal to make it 9-7. MIT responded yet again with a 3-0 run capped by a Jackson Kay strikes to stake the Engineers to a one-goal lead. After Wagner retook the lead at 11-10, Lightner and Kay scored to give MIT a 12-11 margin heading into the final quarter of play.
The Seahawks scored the first two goals of the fourth to go ahead by one before Kunal Rajadhyax punched in an equalizer to tie the game with 6:16 on the clock. However, Wagner scored twice in the game’s closing minutes to escape MIT with a 15-13 win.
Ivatorov, Kay and Lightner all recorded hat-tricks for MIT in the loss, while Strasser led Wagner with four goals. Ethan Kim paced MIT on the defensive end of the tank with four steals.
in the weekend finale, Gannon outscored MIT by a 7-4 count in the first quarter. Derek Schaffer scored twice with Lightner and Lundh accounting for the other two Engineers’ goals.
MIT pulled to within a goal in the second quarter thanks to two more goals from Lightner and a tally by Ivatorov to make it 8-7. However, Gannon got a goal with 12 seconds left to take a 9-7 lead into halftime.
The Golden Knights built upon their two-goal margin to outscore the Engineers in the second half to secure an 18-11 victory.
Lightner led the way with three goals, while Ivatorov, Lundh and Schaffer all scored twice. Petar Markovic netted a match-high five goals for Gannon.
On defense, Joshua Woren made 10 saves and Armaan Gill registered eight for the Engineers. Kim, Gill and David Ranaudo all had two steals in the match.
Information courtesy Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Athletics Communications
