New Rochelle, NY - The Iona College Men's Water polo team battled in two games on Saturday and just missed 3-0 start to the homestand by 41 seconds. In the opener, the Gaels (10-14) were locked in a tie with No. 19 Brown before a late goal put the Bears ahead. Iona used a 3-1 second quarter for a 14-8 win over MIT.
In the morning game against the Bears (8-5), Iona took a 4-2 lead after the first quarter and held a 9-6 advantage at halftime. Brown responded with a 5-0 third quarter to take a two goal lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Bears scored twice to open the quarter, but Iona netted the next three goals to push ahead by a goal before Brown tied it with 2:15 remaining. With just 41 seconds left in the game, Corey Schwartz found the back of the net to edge Iona 13-12.
Joe Przekota led the Gaels with six goals, two steals and two kickouts drawn. Ed Gronkowski added a pair of goals, two kickouts drawn and a field block. Trevor Creighton scored twice with a steal and two field blocks. Nick Velasquez had a goal, two assists, three steals and kickout drawn and Seth Tasman added a goal, an assist, and a kickout drawn. Patrick St. Cin added a steal, two kickouts drawn and a field block. Eric Konzem had eight saves before leaving the game late in the fourth quarter. Mark DiCola stopped six shots.
Gronkowski set the tone in the nightcap against the Engineers (4-9) scoring three of Iona's four goals in the first quarter. The Maroon & Gold outscored MIT 3-1 in the second quarter and took a 7-4 halftime lead. The Gaels never looked back putting up seven goals to the Engineers' four goals in the final two quarters to split the day and take a 14-8 win.
Gronkowski netted six goals in the game with a steal, and a kickout drawn. St. Cin scored a hat trick and Przekota added three of his own with an assist and a steal. Velasquez had a goal, two steals and kickout drawn. Tasman rounded out the scoring with a goal, three steals and two field blocks. Creighton had two steals. Lilly stopped seven shots and DiCola stopped nine.
The Gaels close out the four game home weekend against Harvard on Sunday, October 12. Head Coach Brian Kelly will recognize his program's six seniors prior to the game. Game time is set for 11:00 am.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Iona 4 5 0 3 12
Brown 2 4 3 4 13
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Iona 4 3 5 2 14
MIT 3 1 4 0 8
