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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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The MIT water polo team holding up the banner at the USA Water Polo Championship

Men's Water Polo

No. 8 Water Polo Drops Heartbreaker to Augustana on Last Second Shot in the USA Water Polo Third-Place Match

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The No. 8 MIT water polo team could not hold off a fourth quarter run from Augustana in the third-place game of the USA Water Polo Division III National Championship on Sunday afternoon at Axelrood Pool on the campus of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps as a last second shot by the Vikings as time expired gave them the 14-13 win. 

THE BASICS: 

  • Score: Augustana 14, MIT 13 
  • Records: MIT 8-22 Overall, Augustana18-9 Overall 

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

  • Augie took a 3-1 lead after a Stevan Rasic goal at 1:33 in the first. The Engineers responded with a four-goal run featuring two goals from Adam Ivatorov, and goals from Caspar Lightner and Rick Lundh to give the Engineers a 5-3 lead. 
  • After a goal from Rhys Lomax cut the MIT lead to one. Andras Beleznay helped spark a MIT run that helped the Engineers build an 8-5 advantage.  
  • A six-on-five goal from William Ewald at 6:10 in the third put the Engineers up 9-6, but a five-meter goal from Ian Palmroos got the Vikings within two. Ivatorov and Victor Perez scored back-to-back goals to give the Engineers an 11-7 lead with 3:31 left in the third. 
  • Two six-on-five goals from the Vikings got them to within two, but Lightner converted on the powerplay to make it a 12-9 game with 6:29 left. 
  • The Vikings scored two goals to get to within one, but Derek Schaffer found the back of the net with 1:02 left to put MIT ahead 13-11. 
  • Three goals in under a minute gave Augustana the win. After a missed shot by the Engineers with the match tied at 13, Declan Hutton fired a shot from long range that found the back of the net as the clock hit zeros.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

  • Ivatorov finished the match with a team-high five goals while Lightner added three.  
  • Joshua Woren finished with six saves and two steals. 
  • Lightner also led the team with three assists while Ewald had a team-high three steals. 

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Players Mentioned

Andras Beleznay

#9 Andras Beleznay

C
6' 2"
Junior
William Ewald

#25 William Ewald

CD
6' 2"
Junior
Adam Ivatorov

#2 Adam Ivatorov

C
6' 1"
Senior
Rick Lundh

#11 Rick Lundh

UTL
6' 2"
Junior
Victor Perez

#23 Victor Perez

ATK
5' 9"
Junior
Derek Schaffer

#17 Derek Schaffer

ATK
5' 10"
Sophomore
Joshua Woren

#1 Joshua Woren

GK
5' 11"
Sophomore
Caspar Lightner

#5 Caspar Lightner

ATK
6' 2"
First Year

Players Mentioned

Andras Beleznay

#9 Andras Beleznay

6' 2"
Junior
C
William Ewald

#25 William Ewald

6' 2"
Junior
CD
Adam Ivatorov

#2 Adam Ivatorov

6' 1"
Senior
C
Rick Lundh

#11 Rick Lundh

6' 2"
Junior
UTL
Victor Perez

#23 Victor Perez

5' 9"
Junior
ATK
Derek Schaffer

#17 Derek Schaffer

5' 10"
Sophomore
ATK
Joshua Woren

#1 Joshua Woren

5' 11"
Sophomore
GK
Caspar Lightner

#5 Caspar Lightner

6' 2"
First Year
ATK