CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Division III No. 3-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) water polo team split a pair of Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) matches as the Engineers fell to No. 12 Princeton University, 14-8, before coming back in the nightcap with an 8-5 win over Iona College.
MIT honored its two seniors Daniel Yahalomi (New York, N.Y.) and Kyle Archer (Clovis, Calif.) for their hard work and dedication to the MIT water polo program.
Against Princeton, the Tigers took a 1-0 lead just 44-seconds into the opening quarter. MIT tied the game at 1-1 after a goal by freshmen Myles Stapelberg (Monarch Beach, Calif.) at the 5:56 mark of the first and Christian Schillinger (Orinda, Calif.) less than a minute later, but Princeton closed the first on a 3-0 run and outscored MIT by a 6-1 margin in the second to put the game away early on.
Trailing 14-5 with 5:56 to play in the match, MIT sparked its own 3-0 run with two goals by freshman Evan Kim (Irvine, Calif.) and one by Schillinger, but the match concluded with Princeton ahead by a 14-8 final.
Schillinger led the charge for MIT with a trio of goals and two blocks, while Kim scored twice on three shots and added one assist in the effort.
Defensively, junior Peter Calvaresi (Malvern, Pa.) drew a team-high two ejections, while sophomore Hayden Niederreiter (Visalia, Calif.) made four saves in net for the Engineers.
The Engineers also won three of the four sprints as Kim, sophomore Ward Weldon (Honolulu, Hawaii) and freshman Chris Womack (Redlands, Calif.) each won once to begin the second, third and fourth quarters, respectively.
In the nightcap against Iona, the Engineers fell behind 2-1 after the opening eight minutes of play. MIT scored twice in the second – once by freshman Kevin Downey (Greenwich, Conn.) and once by junior Luka Knezevic (Zagreb, Croatia) as the Engineers held a 3-2 lead at halftime.
MIT secured its second conference win of the season by outscoring Iona 4-1 in the third – on goals by Calvaresi, Kim, Knezevic and Schillinger. Iona did make an attempt to come back as the Gaels scored once with 3:22 to play, but the MIT defense and excellent saves by Niederreiter gave MIT the 8-5 victory.
The Engineers got two goals by Archer in the senior day contest, while five student-athletes accounted for the rest of MIT’s goals including Kim, Schillinger, Knezevic, Downey and Calvaresi. Weldon added a game-high two assists in the nightcap victory.
Defensively, Schillinger registered a pair of blocks and Weldon drew two ejections, while Niederreiter stopped the ball ten times and made one steal tonight.
MIT also secured all four sprint victories as Kim won the first two and Knezevic took the second two to maintain possession of the ball for the Engineers.
Release courtesy Massachusetts Institute of Technology Athletics Communications
