Riverside, CA - The Iona College
men's water polo team went 0-2 as they headed into the Claremont
Convergence. The Gaels (6-10) couldn't
get anything started against Concordia (CA) as Jure Belamaric lead
the Eagles (10-7) with 4 goals to a 7-3 victory. In the second game, the Gaels were able to
notch a goal in each quarter and got a pair from junior Ed Gronkowski but it
wasn't enough as three Lancers each netted two goals in Cal Baptist's 11-4
win.
In the first of two games played on Thursday, the Gaels were
held scoreless in the first 16 minutes of their game against Concordia
(CA). The Gaels and Eagles each
recorded nine shots, but goalie Yadi Pocekaj stopped every Gaels' shot. After a scoreless second quarter that saw
Iona down 3-0 at halftime, the Gaels came out firing in the second half and
broke the shutout as sophomore Joe Przekota put one past Pocekaj at the 4:53 mark to make it
3-1.
The Eagles,
though, would put up the next 4 goals of the match and again the Gaels were
down by 3 goals. Juniors Nick Velasquez
and John Krzyminiski each added a goal late but the Eagles held on to take a
7-3 victory. Freshman goalie Grant
Keissling recorded 8 saves for the Gaels in the loss.
In the
second game, the Gaels tried to keep it close early against Cal Baptist. After Chris Morgan netted his first goal of
the game, junior Patrick St. Cin tied the game at 1-1 as he put one past
Lancers' goalie Jon Miller. Keissling
kept the game tied as he made 5 of his 10 saves of the game in the first
quarter.
Alan Ogden and Scott Gleason put the Lancers (16-8) up by 2
goals but Ed Gronkowski cut the lead in half with his first of two goals coming
with 45 seconds left in the first half.
The Gaels would get no closer as Cal Baptist scored four goals in each
of the final two quarters to take an 11-4 victory over the Gaels. Przekota added another goal to his season
tally late in the third quarter.
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
Lutheran and Cal Maritime on Saturday.
