New Rochelle, NY - Sophomore Joe Przekota and junior Patrick St. Cin combined for 9 goals
and 7 assists as the Iona College men's water polo team defeated Queens
College 15-11. The Gaels (6-7) had a 4-1 lead after the first quarter much in part to St. Cin tallying consecutive goals in the span of 1:10. The Knights
(2-13) though kept it close as they outscored the Gaels 4-1 in the
second quarter. Adam Phillipe brought Queens within a goal as he
scored on a penalty shot after a 5M kickout and it was 5-4 Gaels at the
half.
After Queens tied the score at 5 just seconds into the second half, Przekota put one past Knight's keeper Kory Wilson and junior Ed Gronkowski put the Gaels up by two just 90 seconds later with his first of three goals on the night. Przekota and Gronkowski each added another goal before the end of the quarter, but Queens was still in the match as Tyson Frenn netted the Knights' second 5M goal to end a quarter. At the end of three quarters of play, the Gaels were up 11-9.
Senior captain Brendan Barrow put the Gaels out in front 12-10 with 5:20 left in the game. St. Cin gave the Gaels a 4 goal advantage, their largest lead of the night, as he netted his 4th and 5th goals within 72 seconds of each other. Przekota scored the Gaels final goal with 1:43 remaining to seal the 15-11 victory.
The Knights battled foul trouble all game as Travis Martin, Sergio Ramirez and Jake McCommons each had 2 fouls. Freshmen goalies Grant Keissling and Eric Konzem combined for 7 saves and faced 28 shots. St. Cin finished the game with five goals, three assists, and five steals. Przekota, who came into the game second in the country in goals, added four more goals to his total. He also recorded three steals, drew six kickouts and handed out four assists. Barrow had four steals, drew two kickouts and handed out an assist to go along with his two goals.
The Gaels are back in action as they head to the west coast. The Gaels face-off against Concordia (CA) and Cal Baptist on Thursday, October 4. The Gaels continue their west coast swing at the two-day Claremont Convergence beginning Friday, October 5. The Gaels face Occidental and La Verne on Friday and California Luthern and Cal Maritime on Saturday.
