ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The Division III No. 6-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) men’s water polo team held the defending Division III Water Polo National Champions/Division III No. 2 University of Redlands to two goals in the first quarter, but the Engineers fell to the Bulldogs, 15-6, in the semifinals of the 2023 USA Water Polo Division III Championship hosted by Augustana College.
Both team’s defenses were prominent in the first quarter as the teams combined for just three goals. Senior Colin Weaver (Huntington Beach, Calif.) made six saves in the quarter, and graduate student Bo Tignol (Antwerp, Belgium) scored the lone goal for the Engineers in the eight-minute frame.
The Bulldogs outscored the Engineers 10-3 in the next two quarters to take control of the match.
First-year William Ewald (Greenwich, Conn.) scored two goals in the fourth quarter, and junior Jack King (Los Altos, Calif.) added another for MIT.
With their six-goal performance, the Engineers tied the program record with 366 goals this season.
Weaver made 17 saves to bring his season total to 315 which are two shy of the single-season record for saves in a season. For his career, he has made 822 to rank second.
MIT got two goals from Ewald and one from King, Tignol and sophomores Adam Ivatorov (Rockaway, N.Y.) and Luke Apostolides (Greenwich, Conn.).
With the loss, MIT drops into the Third Place game slated for 10:00 a.m. Central/11:00 a.m. Eastern against the host Vikings of Augustana. Ranked No. 10 in the latest official Division III rankings, Augustana fell to Division III No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 12-4, in the other semifinal.
Release courtesy Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Athletics Communications
