PROVIDENCE, RI. — The Division III No. 8-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) water polo team earned a decisive 17-3 win over Wheaton College to open play at Brown University’s Bruno Invitational before dropping a 10-9 match to Division III No. 7 Johns Hopkins University.
Facing Wheaton, the Engineers raced out to a 9-0 lead after one quarter of play as seven different players scored for MIT.
Wheaton broke through with a goal in the second quarter. David Ranaudo made it a 10-1 MIT lead and the Lyons scored twice more in the quarter as the Engineers held an 11-3 lead by halftime.
MIT held Wheaton scoreless in the final two quarters, outscoring the Lyons 6-0 in the final 16 minutes of play to claim a 14-goal victory.
Adam Ivatorov and Ranaudo had hat tricks in the game, while Avi Narula, David Keller, Nick Soule and Victor Perez all scored twice for the Engineers.
Andras Beleznay, Caspar Lightner and Ethan Kim each found the back of the net once for MIT.
Soule led MIT with three assists, while Narula and Derek Schaffer had two.
On defense, Ranaudo, Kim and Soule posted three steals each in the contest. Joshua Woren made seven saves and Armaan Gill notched one.
In a clash of East Coast Division III powers, Ivatorov scored the first two goals of the game, but Hopkins quickly responded, scoring four-straight to take a two-goal lead after one quarter of action.
Ivatorov got MIT to one with a goal at 5:30 but the Jays scored to regain a two-goal lead. Schaffer found the back of the net off a Lightner pass to get the Engineers to within one and with 53 seconds left in the half, Schaffer found Kunal Rajadhyax for the tying goal.
The Blue Jays used a strong third quarter to build a three-goal lead heading into the final quarter of play. Lightner made it a 7-6 game before JHU scored the final two goals of the quarter.
MIT began its comeback, scoring three straight goals in the fourth quarter. Ivatorov got the scoring started and tied the match with 2:44 left to play. The game remained tied until JHU took advantage of a turnover as Alec Baker sent a shot from almost mid-pool into the goal with 19 seconds left to give the Jays the lead. Rajadhyax looked to tie the game, but his shot rang off the post.
Ivatorov led MIT with five goals. Rick Lundh, Lightner, Schaffer and Rajadhyax accounted for the other Engineers’ tallies.
Schaffer led MIT with three assists, while Lightner and Rajadhyax added two each.
Lundh led the Engineers with two steals and Gill finished with seven saves.
Information courtesy Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Athletics Communications
