CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In the 2017 home opener, the MIT football team dropped a 15-7 final to visiting Curry College in the 26th all-time meeting between the two teams. The Colonels now hold a 19-7 advantage in the series with the Engineers.

THE BASICS:

- Score: Curry 15, MIT 7

- Records: MIT (1-1); Curry (2-0)

- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Steinbrenner Stadium)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- The Colonels got on the board with 6:05 left in the first with a safety as MIT's John Robertson (Brentwood, Tenn.) was taken down in the end zone for the 2-0 edge. Just four minutes later, Nick Villanueva (Hanson, Mass.)  pulled in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Alex Corvese (Cranston, R.I.) in the far corner of the end zone before a missed extra point made it an 8-0 margin.

- MIT struck on the next drive just 23 seconds later as junior Eddy Garcia-Montes (Miami, Fla.) got behind the Curry defense and hauled in a pass in stride from junior Udgam Goyal (Frisco, Texas) and took it 63 yards to close to within 8-7 after one quarter.

- Curry used an MIT turnover late in the second quarter to have a first and goal situation. The MIT defense stepped up though and with 1:39 left, Marc Mrozek (Stratford, Conn.) had a 26-yard field goal attempt sail wide left to make it 8-7 at the break.

- The second half featured a number of turnovers for each team, including a fumble recovery by MIT's Rob DiSanto (Havertown, Pa.) to end the first Curry drive of the third quarter. Early in the fourth, both teams recovered a fumble within 10 seconds of each other as the back-and-forth play continued.

- Holding the one-point lead, the Colonels ran nearly eight minutes on the clock before Corvese capped a 13-play, 79-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run up the middle for the 15-7 lead with 6:33 remaining.

- MIT marched down the field on the ensuing drive though and drove down to the one-yard line with under two minutes remaining. On fourth and goal, Goyal's pass attempt to Garcia-Montes was just off his fingertips as the Colonels took over at the one yard line.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Garcia-Montes led the Engineers with 89 receiving yards and a touchdown, while Sean Kent (Bend, Ore.) had five receptions as eight different Engineers had at least one reception. Goyal was 19-for-32 for 191 yards and a touchdown, while Robertson finished with 39 yards on the ground.

- Corvese was 23-for-35 in the air for 124 yards and a touchdown, along with a team-leading 59 rushing yards with another touchdown.

- Defensively, junior Andrew DeNucci (Newton, Mass.) led all players with 11 tackles for MIT as senior Matt Nicolai (Northport, N.Y.) also had double digits with a 10-tackle outing. Steven Grogan (Forestdale, Mass.) was the top tackler for Curry with a six-tackle showing and a fumble recovery as the Colonels finished with five tackles for loss.

- The Colonels held a 170-74 edge on the ground, while MIT outgained Curry in the air by a 191-124 margin. Curry also held a commanding 39:08-20:52 advantage in time of possession in a game that included five fumbles overall.

UP NEXT:

• MIT is back in action at home on Saturday, September 16th as the Engineers host Endicott College in a non-conference game slated for a 1 p.m. start at Steinbrenner Stadium. Curry heads to Anna Maria College on Fri. Sept. 15 at 7:00 p.m.  

(Game Recap Courtesy of MIT Sports Information)