CAMBRIDGE, MA - The Iona College men's water polo team took eighth place at the 2009 Eastern Championship after falling to MIT 9-8. It marks the the second consecutive year the Engineers have felled the Gaels in the seventh place game as MIT stopped Iona 10-9 at the 2008 Eastern Championship.
Playing in front of a home crowd, the Engineers did not disappoint jumping out to a quick 1-0 lead exactly two minutes into the game. The Gaels countered 32 seconds later with a man-up goal by Seth Tasman at the 5:28 mark, but the Engineers structured a three-goal run with 5:14, 4:04 and 3:40 left in the first period, respectively, to take a 4-1 lead.
Iona responded with a score by Tasman at 1:31, MIT buried another advantage chance to make it 5-2 after eight minutes of play.
Neither team could solve the other's defense for most of the second period as a man-up goal by Matt Joslyn with 4:25 left in the first half was the sole tally of the period.
Iona pulled to within a goal to open the third period as Joe Przekota rifled a five-meter penalty shot past the MIT netminder at the 6:56 mark to make it 6-5 in favor of the Engineers, but another MIT man-up score at 4:48 made it 6-4.
The teams repeated the pattern as goals were exchanged at 4:28 and 3:08, respectively, to keep it a two-goal game at 7-5 before a shot got over the left shoulder of Iona goalie Erik Lilly with 1:56 flashing on the clock to give MIT an 8-5 lead.
However, Iona refused to be felled easily as Joslyn and Tasman unleashed scoring shots at 5:31 and 4:44 to make it 8-7. Needing a score for insurance, MIT answered with a blast from the wing with 2:51 to go to net the eventual game-winner and return a two-goal margin to MIT.
The Gaels attempted to rally back in the closing minutes with a man-up goal by Emre Erdogan with 43 seconds to play to move to within a goal at 9-8. Following a failed MIT possession, Iona regained the ball with 20 seconds left on the clock, but an offensive foul before the Gaels could set up a play wiped out the possibility of overtime and handed the Engineers the one-goal victory.
In cage, Lilly stopped four shots for the Gaels.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
-- |
Final |
Iona College
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2 |
1 |
2 |
3
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-- |
8 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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5 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
-- |
9 |
MIT Goals: Mark Artz (3); Devin Lewis (3); John Preis (2); Brian Gardiner
Iona Goals: Seth Tasman (3); Joe Przekota (2); Matt Joslyn (2); Emre Erdogan
Saves: MIT - Columbus Leonard (6); Iona - Erik Lilly (4)
Exclusions: MIT - 9; Iona - 5
Advantage Opportunities: MIT - 3-for-5; Iona - 4-for-9
Sprints: MIT - 0-for-4; Iona- 4-for-4
Referees: Humberto Navarro, Val Vasilchikov
