HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA - HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA - The Iona College men's water
polo team continued play on their west coast trip with their first two contests at the
Concordia Invitational, hosted by Golden West College. In the opening contest of
the day, the Gaels came back from a four goal first quarter deficit and defeated
Fresno Pacific 12-11. The Gaels would once again play a close contest in their second
game against 10th ranked Concordia, nearly coming back from a five goal halftime
deficit but falling to the Eagles 11-10.
Against the Sunbirds, the Gaels came out slow, allowing Fresno Pacific to score
six goals in the first quarter and trailed 6-2 after one period. Iona would begin their
comeback effort in the second quarter, outscoring the opposition 3-1 in the second
quarter to head into the half trailing 7-5. Iona would take the lead in the third
quarter, outscoring Fresno Pacific 4-1 in the frame, and never looked back.
Senior
Cameron Hudson and freshman
Tyler Mancuso each had three goals for
the Gaels in the win with Hudson adding three steals on the defensive end. Senior
Matt Joslyn had four points on a goal and three assists as well as three steals of his
own. Freshman
Jake Lloyd had two goals and sophomore
Lee Stiles added one goal
and one assist. Sophomore
Sean Davis and freshman
Kyle Elmore each had one goal
for the Maroon & Gold. Sophomore
Stefen Hill had 12 saves in net for Iona.
Against Concordia, the Gaels once again found themselves in an early
disadvantage, trailing 5-1 after the first eight minutes of play. Slowly, the Gaels were
able to creep back into the contest, cutting the lead to 11-7 after three quarters.
The Gaels would score three times in the final frame and had a chance to tie the
contest with five seconds left. However a five-meter free throw attempt was
negated as the final seconds trickled off the clock for the Gaels.
Lloyd led the Gaels with five points on four goals and one assist. Hudson had
three goals for the Gaels in the contest and went a perfect four-for-four on swimoff
attempts. Mancuso, Stiles and senior
Ryan Scott had the other Iona tallies. Hill had
another 12 saves in the game.
The Gaels complete play at the Concordia Invitational with a matchup Saturday
against Cal Baptist at 1:10 pm EST.
