ERIE, Pa. — The Division III No. 9-ranked/No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins University water polo team beat No. 4/top-seed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 12-11, at the Hallman Aquatics Center to claim the Blue Jays 20th Division III Eastern Championship.
MIT took the early lead on a Richard Yun goal just 24 seconds in. Freshman Daniel Palfi answered at 5:17 to tie the game and spark a three-goal run that put JHU up 3-1. Yun and halted the run with a six-on-five goal at 1:53, but graduate student Emerson Sullivan and the Blue Jays led 4-2 after one quarter.
Luke Apostolides scored with 4:59 to go in the second to pull the Engineers back within one, but goals from freshmen Quint Steffey and Palfi pushed the lead to 6-3 with just 33 ticks on the clock. Evan Kowal got one back for MIT however, scoring with 16 seconds left to make it a 6-4 game at the half.
The Engineers picked up where they left off, scoring the first four goals of the third to grab an 8-6 lead. Senior Chris Freese ended the run with a goal to pull the Jays within one with 1:43 to go, but Henry Asa answered right back and MIT led 9-7 after three quarters.
Kowal opened the fourth-quarter scoring at the 5:56-mark to push the Engineers’ lead to three. The Blue Jays responded in a big way. Steffey scored on a six-on-five 34 seconds later to kick-start a five-goal Hopkins’ run. Senior Kami Eslami gave the Blue Jays the lead with 1:43 to play. Sophomore Ian Raley added what turned out to be a much-needed insurance goal to stake Hopkins to a 12-10 lead with 1:16 on the clock. Asa would slice that lead in half just 14 seconds later, but that would do it.
Sullivan was named the Tournament MVP for the second straight year- becoming the second Blue Jay to claim MVP honors twice.
In the history of the Division III Eastern tournament, Hopkins now holds 20 Division III crowns (1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022) in 29 title games with losses in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2010, 2014 and 2018. Hopkins did not compete in two Division III Championships as the Blue Jays’ missed the championship game in 2007 and 2016 by not attending the event.
MIT is a nine-time champion (1991, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018) as the duo of the Blue Jays and Engineers rate as the only active Division III programs to hold a Division III Eastern crown. Overall, former varsity team Washington & Lee University defeated Johns Hopkins in 1992 and 1993 in the second and third Division III tournaments for the only titles not held by either the Blue Jays or Engineers.
Courtesy making the Division III Eastern Championship title game, both Johns Hopkins and MIT punched their tickets to the 2022 USA Water Polo Division III Championship versus the top-two finishing teams in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). Slated for December 2-4, the event will be hosted on the East Coast for the first time following the 2019 (at Whittier College) and 2021 (at Pomona-Pitzer Colleges) events being hosted by the SCIAC Champion.
2022 Division III Eastern Championship All-Tournament Team
Most Valuable Player – Emerson Sullivan (John Hopkins University)
Rookie of the Tournament – Luke Apostolides (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Coach of the Tournament – Austin Ringheim (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
First Team
Colin Weaver – Goalkeeper (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Miller Geschke (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Luke Apostolides (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Emerson Sullivan (Johns Hopkins University)
Cameron Burns (Johns Hopkins University)
Colin McDowell (Augustana College)
Cayden Griffith (Austin College)
Second Team
Declan Hutton – Goalkeeper (Augustana College)
Oskar Bannister (Augustana College)
Max Wade (Austin College)
Christian Jacobsen (Connecticut College)
Ian Raley (Johns Hopkins University)
Evan Kowal (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Andrew Edwards (Washington & Jefferson College)
