ERIE, PA – The second-seeded Johns Hopkins water polo team beat top-seeded and fourth-ranked MIT, 12-11, on Sunday to win the program's 20^th CWPA 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.
 
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.
 
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. He is just the second player in program history to do so. Joining him on the All-Tournament team were junior Cameron Burns (first team) and Raley (second team).
 
Hopkins returns to action on Friday, October 28 at Navy. The MAWPC contest is scheduled for a 7:30 pm start.
 
Inside the Box
Goals: Palfi-3, Sullivan-2, Steffey-2, Eslami-1, Raley-1, Gensbigler-1, Freese-1, Housenbold-1
Assists: Raley-2, Freese-2, Burns-1, Palfi-1, Soares-1
Steals: Elsami-4, Pearson-2, Sullivan-2, Raley-2, Soares-2, Gensbigler-1, Freese-1, Palfi-1, Lo-1
Saves: Pearson-8
 
Notes: Sullivan now ranks 18^th in program history in career steals (102) and seventh in ejections drawn (122) • Freese ranks 17^th in career assists (68) and 13^th in ejections drawn (90) • Eslami is now 24^th with 86 career steals and tied for 12^th with 23 career blocks • Hopkins is now 82-9 all-time in the CWPA Division III Eastern Championship with 20 titles.