BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. — Player of the Game Miller Geschke (So., Los Altos, Calif./Menlo School) and Clyde Huibregtse (Sr., New York, N.Y./Bronx) both scored four times as Division III No. 4-ranked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) downed host Washington & Jefferson College, 17-8, in the opening game of the 2019 Division III Eastern Championship at Chartiers Valley High School.
The Engineers (8-8) never trailed in the game as the Engineers guaranteed themselves no worse than a Fourth Place finish in the championship field by pulling away from Washington & Jefferson (3-18) with a 9-3 second half scoring advantage.
Tied at four-all with 6:02 left in the second quarter, MIT outdistanced the Presidents with a four-goal outburst. Kevin Downey (Jr., Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) ignited the run by banging in a shot with 4:09 until halftime prior to Ward Weldon (Sr., Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) flipping in a strike at 3:46 to build the margin to 6-4.
Geschke (2:05) and Huibregtse (1:31) padded the spread to 8-4 with back-to-back man-up tallies prior to W&J’s Tyler Francis (Jr., Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) finding the back of the cage by converting a six-on-five opportunity with 1:02 left for an 8-5 score at halftime.
MIT put the contest out of reach in the opening moments of the third quarter by rattling off five consecutive goals to push its scoreboard advantage out to 13-5 with 3:40 remaining in the frame. W&J inched back within seven (14-7) prior to the end of the third quarter, but the Engineers claimed a 3-1 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter to clinch the nine-goal win.
For MIT, Evan Kim (Jr., Irvine, Calif./Arnold O. Beckman) joined Geschke and Huibregtse in accounting for hat-tricks, while Weldon and Downey both chipped in pairs. Kaden DiMarco (So., Eugene, Ore./South Eugene) and Christian Schillinger (Jr., Ordina, Calif./Miramonte) both tacked on solo markers.
Across the tank, Francis put away three opportunities for W&J. Will Kitsch (So., Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) registered a pair of goals, with the trio of Cam Spicer (So., Worcester, Pa./La Salle College), Ian Geister (Sr., Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and Ryan Bannon (Fr., Bloomfield, Colo./Bloomfield) each notching single tallies.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Division III No. 4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (8-8) | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3 | – | 17 |
| Washington & Jefferson College (3-18) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | – | 8 |
| W&J Goals: | Tyler Francis (3); Will Kitsch (2); Cam Spicer; Ian Geister; Ryan Bannon | |||||
| MIT Goals: | Clyde Huibregtse (4); Miller Geschke (4); Evan Kim (3); Ward Weldon (2); Kevin Downey (2); Kaden DiMarco; Christian Schillinger | |||||
| Saves: | W&J – Not available ; MIT – Not available | |||||
| Exclusions: | W&J – 7 ; MIT – 11 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | W&J – 4-for-11 ; MIT – 4-for-7 | |||||
| Sprints: | W&J – 1-for-4 (2nd) ; MIT – 3-for-4 (1st, 3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | W&J – YC (Head coach Nikola Malezanov, 2:49 left in 2nd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Brandon Nicholson; Andy Mattson | |||||
MIT’s Clyde Huibregtse (#5) looks for an opening as Washington & Jefferson College’s Elijah Muzzi (#7) defends
Washington & Jefferson College’s Tyler Francis (#19) attempts to elude MIT’s John Steele (#10)
MIT’s Ward Weldon (#2)
