CLAREMONT, Calif. – The No. 8 MIT water polo team took on No. 2 Pomona-Pitzer College in the semifinal round of the USA Water Polo Division III National Championship on Saturday afternoon at Axelrood Pool on the campus of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with the Sagehens coming away with an 11-7 win. 

THE BASICS: 

• Score: Pomona-Pitzer 11, MIT 7 
• Records: MIT 8-21 Overall, Pomona-Pitzer 20-13 Overall 

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

• After the Sagehens opened the scoring, Rick Lundh tied the match with a 6-on-5 goal at 6:57. Pomona got the next two goals, but Lundh scored with 11 seconds remaining in the quarter to make it a one-goal game after one quarter of play. 
• Caspar Lightner tied the match with his goal at 7:18. Conrad Hugar regained the lead for Pomona at 4:14 on the powerplay, but Derek Schaffer tied the match again with 2:56.  
• The Sagehens used a 4-0 run to double up the Engineers before Lightner stopped the run with a goal at 5:59 in the third to make the score 8-5. Two more goals from Pomona increased its lead to five with 2:52 in the third.  
• Lightner scored again to make the score 10-6, but Max Distaso scored a goal with 5:58 left. William Ewald scored the final goal to account for the 11-7 score. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

• Joshua Woren made ten saves and had one steal. 
• Lightner led the way with three goals to bring his season total to 77. Lundh scored twice to bring his total to 54. 
• Schaffer led the team with four steals while Lightner added three. 

UP NEXT: 

• MIT will play Augustana, tomorrow, Sunday, December 7 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET in the third-place match of the USA Water Polo Division III Championship.  

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