CAMBRIDGE, MA - Iona College senior Joe Przekota led all scorers with five goals, three-time defending Eastern Champion the United States Naval Academy overpowered the Gaels and roll to a 15-11 victory in the opening round of the 2009 Eastern Championship.

The game was all Navy in the opening period as the Midshipmen pounced on a man-up opportunity with 5:18 remaining in the first period to take a quick 1-0 lead.  Navy scored another man-up tally at 2:11 and a natural goal with thirty ticks left on the period clock to put Navy ahead 3-0 following eight minutes of play.

Following a tally by Przekota on a man-up chance 21 seconds into the second period, the Midshipmen went to work in blowing the game open as guys by Kyle Wertz and Johnny Meiners and Conor Handley put Navy ahead 6-1.  The teams traded goals before the closing horn of the first half as Meiners blast a shot into the left side of the cage at 2:48 before Cameron Hudson changed Iona's scoreboard number to two with a last second man-up goal with one tick left on the second period clock to set the score at 7-2 after a half. 

Iona pushed for a comeback as Seth Tasman netted his lone goal of the day 51 seconds into the new half to pull the Gaels to within 7-3, but the Midshipmen broadsided Iona with four consecutive goals to build their lead to eight scores at 11-3.

Wertz ignited the run with a score at 6:20 before Meiners added his fourth goal of the day at 5:45 to make it a 9-3 gme.  Handley chipped in his second score of the day at 5:14 and Luke Baldwin added his lone score of the afternoon at 3:41 to push the margin to eight goals.

Przekota attemepted to rally his team back into the contest with consecutive markers at 3:22 and 32 seconds, but Cort Jones cushioned the lead with a man-up goal at the two seconds mark to register the eventual game-winning score and make it a 12-5 game after 24 minutes of competition. Jones struck again to open the fourth period to make it 13-5 with 7:25 left in the fourth period, a margin the Gaels would not be able to rally back from in the closing minutes of the game.

Following a man-up goal by Matt Joslyn at 5:25 to make it 13-6, Iona pulled to within three goals at 13-10 as Przekota scored at 4:41 and 2:53, while Kristian Bocage  added a man-up goal at 2:53 before Joslyn pumped and buried a shot into the cage at 1:43 to make it a 13-10 game.

Needing additional insurance to guarantee they would advance, Navy used back-to-back scores by Matt Carlson and Robert Newman at 1:26 and 1:07, respectively, to push it to 15-10 before Hudson tossed in a goal at the final buzzer for the 15-11 final score.

In cage, Eric Konzem stopped nine shots for the Gaels, while the Navy goalie tandem combined for 10 saves.

At the Eastern Championship banquet, Przekota was named First Team All-Conference, while senior Emre Erdogan earned a Second Team selection.

Iona will meet Fordham at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday with a berth in the fifth place game on the line.

Navy Goals: Johnny Meiners (4); Kyle Wertz (4); Cort Jones (2); Conor Handley (2); Luke Baldwin; Matt Carlson; Robert Newman

Iona Goals: Joe Przekota (5); Matt Joslyn (2); Cameron Hudson (2); Kristian Bocage; Seth Tasman

Saves: Navy - Brett Rajchel (7), Dominic Valentini (3) ; Iona - Eric Konzem (9)

Exclusions: Navy - 7 ; Iona - 7

Advantage Opportunities: Navy - 4-for-7 ; Iona - 6-for-7

Sprints: Navy - 1-for-4 ; Iona- 3-for-4

Referees: Alex Stankevitch, Vaughn Cooper