Cambridge, MA - "It was the best weekend we had all year", commented Iona College Men's Water Polo coach Brian Kelly as the Gaels (5-9) took sixth place at the ECAC Championship falling to Princeton 8-5.

"I'm extremely happy with the way we played," added Kelly. "We had chances to win every game versus ranked teams and probably should have won." The Tigers (3-4) took a 3-2 lead after the first quarter, but the Maroon & Gold outscored Princeton 2-1 in the second to tie the game at 4 heading into the half. Princeton held the Gaels scoreless and netted a pair in the third adding two more in the final quarter to edge Iona 8-5.

Goalie Eric Konzem had another great game with 11 saves. Ed Gronkowski led the scoring with three goals, three kickouts drawn and a pair of steals. Trevor Creighton netted a goal with an assist and a field block with captain Patrick St. Cin scoring the Gaels' last goal and adding a steal and four field blocks. Joe Przekota had an assist, two kickouts drawn. Nick Velasquez added a pair of steals and pair of field blocks with Taylor Hudson and Seth Tasman each grabbing a field block.

The Gaels can enjoy some time off before they head out to California for seven games beginning on October 2. "This is the perfect way to set up our California trip and prepare ourselves for league play," said Kelly. Iona will face Concordia and No. 17 Cal Baptist before playing in the Claremont Convergence. The trip wraps up against No. 10 UC Santa Barbara. Kelly feels that Iona "will be recognized as an elite team this year."

              1    2    3    4     F
Princeton      3    1    2    2    8
Iona           2    2    0    1    5