CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Kevin Downey (Jr., Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) and Pat Stefanou (Sr., Old Greenwich, Conn./Brunswick School) both scored three times to share Player of the Game recognition as Division III No. 5-ranked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) downed Iona College, 16-6, in the 2019 Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Championship Fifth Place game.
Trailing 1-0 with 2:29 left in the first quarter, the Engineers (11-14, 2-8 NWPC) knotted the score at one-all prior to the close of the opening frame. Following a 4-1 scoring advantage in the second quarter, MIT added 3-2 and 8-2 scoring advantages in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, to dominate Iona (6-23, 0-10 NWPC).
The win clinches a Top Five finish in the six-team NWPC Championship for MIT. Historically, the finish ties the Engineers all-time best finish at the event as MIT previously garnered Sixth (2016 at Princeton University, 2017 at Harvard University) and Fifth (2018 at Brown University). Each time, the Engineers have met Iona in the Fifth Place game with the Gaels garnering 9-8 sudden death overtime (2016) and 10-9 overtime (2017) setbacks during the first two years of the NWPC Championship prior to stopping Iona by a 16-11 count at Brown 12 months ago.
In a game that featured a combined 22-goals, offense was hard to come by in the early moments of the game.
Bret Hofer (Jr., Tinley Park, Ill./Victor J. Andrew) put Iona on the board first by converting on a man-up chance with 2:29 remaining in the opening quarter of action. However, MIT engineered a charge into the lead as Downey deposited a power-play goal with 37 seconds left in the first quarter prior to adding an even-strength tally at the 6:11 mark of the second quarter to provide the home team a 2-1 lead.
German Rodriguez (So., Lima, Peru/Santa Maria) equalied the scoreboard at 4:58 prior to Clyde Huibregtse (Sr., New York, N.Y./Bronx) pushing MIT ahead once again at 3-2 with 4:39 left in the second quarter via a man-up strike. The Engineers expounded on the narrow margin as Miller Geschke (So., Los Altos, Calif./Menlo School) and John Steele (So., Old Greenwich, Conn./Iona Preparatory) buried back-to-back natural goals at 3:57 and 2:33, respectively, to stake MIT to a 5-2 lead through 16 minutes of competition.
Goals continued to if not divide, at least multiply, as Stefanou (3:04) and and Christian Schillinger (Jr., Orinda, Calif./Miramonte) (2:27) commenced a late third quarter scoring explosion by dinging the twine and extending MIT’s lead to 7-2.
Lester Machado (Fr., Hialeah, Fla./Hialeah) snapped the Engineers’ five-goal ouburst by putting away a six-on-five advantage tally at 1:34 to move the Gaels within four at 7-3. Both teams landed man-up scoring blows prior to the conclusion of the quarter as Geschke (38 seconds, man-up) and Machado (five seconds, man-up) put away shots to set the score at 8-4 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
The last eight minutes were predominantly the domain of MIT as the Engineers dominated play with an 8-2 scoring spurt to the closing horn.
Downey kicked out the flurry by drilling in a shot at 7:35 prior to Stefanou (6:17) and Sawyer Koetters (Fr., Santa Monica, Calif./Santa Monica) (5:25) tacking on markers to build the lead to 11-4. Stefanou further widened the gap to 12-4 courtesy a five-meter penalty shot at 4:48 prior to Rodriguez hammering home a man-up bid at 4:18 to shrink MIT’s margin to 12-5.
Steele (4:00) and Justin Ginsberg (So., Buffalo Grove, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) (3:42) traded scores to move the needle to 13-6 prior to Kaden DiMarco (So., Euguene, Ore./South Eugene) (1:43, man-up; 1:18, even-strength) and Schillinger (18 seconds, even-strength) rattling in a trio of shots for the 16-6 final score.
For MIT, Downey and Stefanou posted hat-tricks with Schillinger, DiMarco, Geschke and Steele tacking on pairs. Koetters and Huirbregtse notched solo scores with goalie Hayden Neiderreiter (Sr., Visalia, Calif./Golden West) stopping 12 shots in picking up the win. Conrad Oakes (So., Pasadena, Calif./Flintridge Preparatory) made one save during limited time in the fourth quarter.
Unlike previous seasons, the game is not terminal for MIT as the team will compete in the four-team/inaugural Division III Collegiate Water Polo National Championship sponsored by USA Water Polo on Saturday-Sunday, December 7-8, with Division III No. 4 Johns Hopkins Univeristy of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) and the top two teams from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship. MIT earned a spot in the Division III National Championship field by finishing as the runner-up to Hopkins at the Division III Eastern Championship hosted by Washington & Jefferson College at Chartiers Valley High School.
Macado and Rodriguez led Iona with pairs of goals to accompany single markers by Ginsberg and Hofer. Goalies Jorge Andres Torres (Sr., Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Jose) and Michael Banks (Sr., Orlando, Fla./Winter Park) both saw time in cage for the Gaels with the duo combining for 12 saves.
The game marked the third meeting of the year between MIT and Iona as the Engineers claimed a 10-9 win in sudden death overtime in New Rochelle, N.Y., on October 5 prior to notching an 11-10 victory on November 2 in Cambrige to sweep the season series.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Iona College | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | – | 6 |
| Division III No. 5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | – | 16 |
| MIT Goals: | Kevin Downey (3); Pat Stefanou (3); Christian Schillinger (2); Kaden DiMarco (2); Miller Geschke (2); John Steele (2); Sawyer Koetters; Clyde Huibregtse | |||||
| Iona Goals: | Lester Machado (2); German Rodriguez (2); Justin Ginsberg; Brett Hofer | |||||
| Saves: | MIT – Hayden Niederreiter (12), Conrad Oakes (1) ; Iona – Jorge Andres Torres (10), Michael Banks (2) | |||||
| Exclusions: | MIT – 15 ; Iona – 14 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | MIT – 6-for-14 ; Iona – 5-for-15 | |||||
| Sprints: | MIT – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) ; Iona – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Iona – YC (Jorge Andres Torres, 4:50 left in 4th Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Tony Karaman ; Val Vasilchikov | |||||
Iona College’s Mohamed Refaat (#10) looks for an opening against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Ward Weldon (#2)
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Clyde Huibregtse (#5) shoots over Iona College’s Andrew Brozovic (#6)
