CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – After earning a decisive 14-5 win over Connecticut College to open the final day of the Harvard Invitational across town at Harvard University, the Division III No. 8-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) water polo team took an 18-11 setback against Division III No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges. The Engineers rallied to tie the Sagehens after 16 minutes of play, however, Pomona-Pitzer used a 12-goal second half to secure a seven-score win.
Facing fellow New England institution Connecticut College to start the day, MIT raced out to a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter. Jake Schweizer led the charge with two goals while five other Engineers tallied a goal.
After a goal from the Camels, Rick Lundh scored twice to complete a hat trick and put MIT up 9-1. Ethan Kim made it a nine-goal lead, but Connecticut used a seven-on-six goal as time expired in the half to make it a 10-2 contest.
Caspar Lightner and Armeet Gill tallied the lone goals for the Engineers in the third quarter as they went into the final eight minutes of regulation holding a 12-4 advantage.
Charlie Baker and Jackson Kay added the final two goals for MIT in the fourth quarter.
Nine Engineers found the back of the net led by Lundh’s hat trick and two goals from Schweizer.
Luca Morocco led the team with four steals and had two assists. Derek Schaffer, Jae Wykoff, Schweizer and Lundh all had two steals.
Kay also had two assists in the match.
Armaan Gill made 17 saves to pick-up the victory in cage.
The team’s luck turned versus Pomona-Pitzer as the Sagehens opened the match on a 3-0 run before a goal from Lundh at 3:50 got MIT on the board. After another Pomona-Pitzer strike made it 4-1, Lightner and Schweizer went back-to-back to get MIT to within one going into the second quarter.
A six-on-five goal gave the Sagehens a two-goal advantage, but Lightner and Schweizer again went back-to-back to make it a five-all match. A six-on-five marker by Max Distaso put Pomona-Pitzer back up one, but Lightner responded with his own man-up strike to tie the game with 53 seconds left in the second quarter.
The Sagehens started to put the match away, opening the third with four straight goals before a six-on-five goal from Schweizer stopped the run. However, Pomona-Pitzer scored the next three goals to take a 12-7 lead into fourth quarter.
Schweizer scored his fourth goal of the game to make it 12-8 and Andras Beleznay found the back of the net to get MIT within three. Pomona-Pitzer then converted on two penalty shot goals to increase its lead to 14-9. Lightner and Schaffer scored, but MIT could not overcome the Sagehens who took an 18-11 win.
Lightner and Schweizer led the way with four goals each. Lightner now leads the team with 45, while Schweizer has 27. The four goals are a career-high for Schweizer.
Rajadhyax led the way with four assists, Kay had a team-high two steals and goalkeeper Joshua Woren made nine saves.
Information courtesy Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Athletics Communications
