CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Matthew Pryce (Fr., Johannesburg, South Africa/St. John’s College) scored seven times after halftime as Division III No. 5-ranked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology rallied from a 5-0 first quarter deficit to reel in a 14-12 overtime defeat of Long Island University and take Fifth Place at the 2023 Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Championship hosted by Harvard University.
The Engineers (13-14, 1-9 NWPC) – who are guaranteed to continue the program’s season following the NWPC Championship courtesy winning the Division III Eastern Championship to punch the program’s ticket to the 2023 USA Water Polo Division III National Championship at Augustana College in Rock, Island, Ill., on December 2-3 – claim Fifth Place in the final seven team standings as the squad topped Connecticut College by an 18-3 count on Saturday, November 18, to finish 2–0 in a round robin with the Camels and LIU to determine the final three positions in the championship. Long Island (8-23, 1-9 NWPC) – which took down Connecticut via a 25-5 count in the final game on Saturday, November 18 – finishes in Sixth Place with the Camels earning Seventh Place.
Making the program’s inaugural appearance at the NWPC Championship, the Sharks went into a scoring frenzy in the first quarter as Karl Lovett (Gr., San Ramon, Calif./California/Wagner College) (6:12), Riyad Shehadeh (Sr, Nicosia, Cyprus/Pascal Greek School) (4:42, penalty shot), Ben LeClair (So., Orlando, Fla.) (3:48) and Josep Jodra Munoz (Jr., Barcelona, Spain/Closa/St. Francis College Brooklyn) (1:15, 42 seconds) racked up a 5-0 outburst to start the game and put MIT in a significant hole to start the contest.
The Engineers began to construct a comeback in the opening minutes of the second quarter as Bo Tignol (Gr., Antwerp, Belgium/ACS Enham International School) stroked a shot into the twine with six minutes of the clock to break the ice for MIT to move within 5-1.
Jodra Munoz delivered an answer at 2:42 to complete a hat-trick and return a five-goal spread to the Sharks at 6-1, but Adam Ivatorov (So., Rockaway, N.Y./Staten Island Technical) inflicted some damage prior to halftime by putting away man-up (1:31) and even-strength (47 seconds) to shrink the Engineers’ deficit to 6-3 at the midway point.
MIT continued to climb back into the game in the dawning moments of the third quarter as Pryce put away man-up (6:18) and even-strength (5:38) strikes to make it a 6-5 game. Shehadeh snapped the run by cashing in a six-on-five opportunity at 4:59 for the Sharks, but the Engineers responded wit an offensive surge to turn the game in favor of MIT.
Trailing by a pair, Tignol (4:36) and Pryce (2:55, man-up) scored back-to-back goals to balance the scoreboard at seven-all prior to Rick Lundh (Fr., Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) tossing in a go-ahead score for MIT at 2:17 to make it an 8-7 contest.
Jodra Munoz (2:02) retied the game at eight-all for Long Island, but Andras Beleznay (Fr., Delray Beach, Calif./Saint Andrew’s School) tossed in a response with 57 seconds left on the third quarter clock and Pryce beat the buzzer for a man-up tally with one second remaining for a 10-8 Engineers’ lead through 24 minutes of action.
The lead was short lived, however, as Shehadeh (7:00) and Logan Morgan (So., Camarillo, Calif./Thousand Oaks) (5:31) squared the squads at 12-all less than two and a half minutes into the fourth quarter.
MIT appeared primed to take the win in regulation as Pryce ripped in man-up (3:53) and natural (2:44) strikes to stake the Engineers to a 12-10 lead. However, the Sharks bit back as LeClair and Shehadeh delivered back-to-back strikes in the final minute at the 57 and 14 (man-up) seconds marks, respectively, to set the scoreboard at 12-all through the conclusion of regulation.
In overtime, neither team managed to put together an offensive possession of note until Tignol buried a five-meter penalty shot with 1:14 on the clock in the opening frame for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
In the second OT frame, the teams went back-and-forth until Pryce notched his seventh marker of the contest with one second left on the clock for insurance as MIT completed the come-from-behind victory over the Engineers for Fifth Place.
MIT – which claims the programs’ fourth Fifth Place mark at the NWPC Championship following prior Fifth (2018, 2019, 2021) and Sixth (2016, 2017, 2022) Place marks – was led in the water by Pryce (seven), Tignol (three), Ivatorov (two), Lundh and Beleznay as each member of the quintet factored on the offensive end of the tank. Colin Weaver (Sr., Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei) made 10 saves in earning the win as the goalkeeper of record.
Across the tank, Jodra Munoz and Shehadeh both scored four times, while LeClair chipped in a pair to accompany solo markers by Lovett and Morgan. Goalkeeper Ethan Zirh (Gr., Sydney, Australia/Castle Hill) made 13 saves in taking the loss.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | OT1 | OT2 | – | FINAL | |
| Long Island University |
5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | 12 |
| Division III No. 5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | 14 |
| MIT Goals: | Matthew Pryce (7); Bo Tignol (3); Adam Ivatorov (2); Andras Beleznay; Rick Lundh | |||||||
| LIU Goals: | Josep Jodra Munoz (4); Riyad Shehadeh (4); Ben Leclair (2); Karl Lovett; Logan Morgan | |||||||
| Saves: | MIT – Colin Weaver (10) ; LIU – Ethan Zirh (13) | |||||||
| Exclusions: | MIT – 9 ; LIU – 10 | |||||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | MIT – 6-for-10 ; LIU – 3-for-9 | |||||||
| Sprints: | MIT – 1-for-6 (6th) ; LIU – 5-for-6 (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th) | |||||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | MIT – YC (Head coach Austin Ringheim, 10 seconds left in 2nd Q) ; LIU – None | |||||||
| Officials: | Steve Redding, Val Vasilchikov | |||||||
Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Matthew Pryce (#12)
Long Island University’s Karl Lovett (#9) rises to shoot as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Bo Tignol (#5) defends
Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kieran Kearns (#22) defends Long Island University’s Logan Morgan (#2)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Matthew Pryce (#12) dishes off a pass as Long Island University’s Karl Lovett (#9) pursues
