BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Following a vote of the conference’s six head coaches, Caspar Lightner (Fr., San Diego, Calif./The Bishop’s School) of Division III No. 10-ranked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is elected as the 2025 Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Championship Rookie of the Tournament based on his performance at the event on Friday-Sunday, November 21-23, hosted by Brown University.
Competing in the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center in Providence, R.I., the All-Tournament First Team honoree scored 10 goals as the Engineers defeated Iona University (15-11 W) before falling against No. 14-ranked Princeton University (17-7 L) and host/No. 19 Brown (13-11 L) to claim Fourth Place in the seven-team championship field. Lightner scored twice versus Princeton and posted four goals against both Iona and Brown in helping MIT garner the program’s all-time best finish at a conference championship after previously claiming Fifth (2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024) and Sixth (2017, 2022) at the NWPC Championship. At the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Championship prior to the formation of the NWPC and Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC), the Engineers notched Eighth (2004, 2012), Seventh (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2015), Sixth (2003, 2010) and 10th (2014) placed marks.
