CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Division III No. 8-ranked/No. 3 seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) water polo team dropped an 11-7 semifinal to Division III No. 2/No. 2 seed Pomona-Pitzer Colleges at the 2025 USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Championship hosted by Division III No. 1/No. 2 seed/Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges at Axelrood Pool.
Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Championship fourth place finisher MIT (8-21) will take on Division III No. 9/No. 4 seed/Mountain Pacific Sports Federation East champion Augustana College – which fell to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps by a 12-7 count in the other semifinal – at 10:00 a.m. Pacific/1:00 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, December 7, in the championship’s Third Place game, while Pomona-Pitzer (20-13) will battle host CMS at Noon Pacific/3:00 p.m. Eastern for the USA Water Polo Division III Championship. Streaming coverage is available on Overnght.com with live stats available courtesy of The FOSH.
Augustana – which defeated MIT by a 9-7 score at the University of Redlands’ Thompson Aquatic Center last year for the program’s inaugural Top Three finish at the USA Water Polo Division III Championship – will aim to upset the Engineers this year for another Third Place mark. MIT – which holds prior Third (2019, 2022, 2023) and Fourth (2021, 2024) Place marks at the USA Water Polo Division III Championship – will seek to claim the program’s fourth Third Place mark.
After the Sagehens opened the scoring with a strike by Indigo Lee 23 seconds into the game, Rick Lundh (Jr., Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) tied the match with a six-on-five goal with 6:57 left in the first quarter. Pomona got the next two goals as Lee (3:33) and Zach Whitfield (1:07) swished even-strength chances, but Lundh scored with 11 seconds remaining in the quarter to make it a one-goal game after a quarter of action.
Caspar Lightner (Fr., San Diego, Calif./The Bishop’s School) tied the match at three-all with a goal at 7:18 in the second quarter, but Conrad Hugar regained the lead for Pomona at 4:14 on the powerplay. Derek Schaffer (So., Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union) tied the match again at four-all with 2:56 until halftime.
The Sagehens used a 4-0 run to double up the Engineers as Nico Perna (2:35; 45 seconds) and Whitfield (1:37) finished out the second quarter to build the lead to 7-4 prior to Alden Pfau denting the twine at 6:31 in the third quarter.
Lightner stopped the run with a man-up goal at 5:59 in the third quarter to make the score 8-5, but two more goals from Pomona-Pitzer’s Ryan Kreutzkamp (4:39, man-up) and Jaden Winters (2:52) increased the Saghens’ lead to 10-5.
Lightner answered at 2:30 to move MIT within 10-6, but Max Distaso scored a goal with 5:58 left in the fourth quarter to keep the Engineers in check. William Ewald (Jr., Greenwich, Conn./Brunswick) closed the gap between teams to 11-7 with 1:52 left on the clock, but the Engineers could not inch closer prior to the final horn.
Joshua Woren (So, Aurora, Calif./Cherokee Trail) made 10 saves and grabbed a steal for MIT, while Lightner led the way with three goals to bring his season total to 77. Lundh scored twice to bring his total to 54.
Schaffer led the team with four steals with Lightner adding three.
Lee, Perna and Whitfield scored twice for Pomona-Pitzer, with Kreutzkamp, Pfau, Distaso, Hugar and Winters notching solo markers. Greg Moore made 11 saves to earn the win.
