 |  |
Johns Hopkins Engineers 20-15 Win Over MIT For 11th Division III Eastern Title
BALTIMORE, MD - The Johns Hopkins
men's water polo team claimed its 11th Division III Eastern
Championship title on Sunday, October 26 in a 20-15 win over MIT.
Senior co-captain Josh Kratz was named the
tournament's Most Valuable Player after scoring 13 goals and
notching seven assists in three matches. Head coach Ted Bresnahan
was named the Coach of the Year.
The first quarter was tightly contested as Hopkins held a one-goal
lead at the end of the first eight minutes. Junior Peter
Sauerhoff took a pass from junior Kyle
Gertridge and scored on a behind-the-back shot to put the
Blue Jays on the board first. Devin Lewis answered
for MIT with back-to-back goals to give the Engineers their first
and only lead of the match. Just 11 seconds after Lewis' second
tally, senior Peter Davis converted a pass from
senior co-captain Alex Bond, igniting a three-goal
Blue Jay rally. Brian Gardiner got one back for
MIT with just 22 seconds on the clock as Hopkins took a 4-3 lead
into the second.
Lewis tied the match for the second time with his third of the day
with 5:51 to play in the second. Hopkins answered with a 4-0 run as
four different Blue Jays scored to push their lead to 8-4 with 1:29
to play in the half. Rob Kalwarowsky and
John Preis sandwiched goals around a tally from
Kratz and JHU led 9-6 at the half.
Coming out of the break, Davis kick-started a 3-0 run for the Blue
Jays, scoring on a five-meter shot just 39 seconds into the third.
Kratz then scored on a cross-pool pass from Sauerhoff, followed by
a strike from Gertridge and it was 12-6 Hopkins. MIT responded with
a 4-2 run to close out the third, but Hopkins led 14-10 heading
into the final quarter.
Davis once again came out firing
for the Blue Jays to start the quarter, scoring on a fast break 49
seconds in. Mike Smith-Bronstein, cut the deficit
back to four with a five-meter goal. It was short-lived however as
senior Chris Rochester and Gertridge combined for
three goals in less than two minutes to push Hopkins lead to seven
at 18-11. MIT would outscore Hopkins 3-2 over the final four
minutes, but it was not enough to overcome the Blue Jays lead.
Davis led all scorers with six goals while also notching two
assists and four steals. Kratz scored five goals with three
assists. For the Engineers, Lewis led the way with five goals,
while Preis added four.
This was the 13th meeting between Johns Hopkins and MIT in the
Division III Eastern Championship title match since the tournament
began in 1991. The Blue Jays are 9-4 against the Engineers in the
championship match. The Hopkins offense was explosive in the
tournament, as the Blue Jays scored 20 or more goals in three
straight games for the first time since Sept. 7, 1996.
In the third-place match, Penn State Behrend defeated Washington
& Jefferson, 12-9. Washington & Jefferson then beat
Connecticut College, 17-10 in the fourth-place match.
The complete tournament bracket and All-Tournament teams are available on the CWPA website's 2008 Division III Tournament page.
