ANNAPOLIS, MD - The Iona College men's water polo team opened the 2012 season Saturday with a trio of matchups at the Navy Open.  In game one, the Gaels picked up a 21-7 win over Gannon before suffering a 11-10 loss to George Washington and dropping the finale of the day 18-13 to the host Midshipmen.

Against Gannon, Iona scored six goals in each of the first two periods to take a 12-5 lead into the half.   Iona continued its score offensive attack in the second half, putting away nine goals while Gannon only found the net twice in the final 16 minutes.

Sophomore Jake Lloyd led the Gaels with four goals, along with two steals.  Sophomore Kyle Elmore had three goals, as did sophomore Ian Thompson.  Senior Kristian Bocage had three points on one goal and two assists.  Senior Connor Bracken had one goal and one assist while freshman Tommy Keefe had two goals in his Iona debut.

Junior Stefen Hill made eight saves in three quarters of play while sophomore Mike Pufunt and freshman Mike McCruden combined for three saves and two steals in one quarter of play.

Against George Washington, the Gaels fought out of a mighty deficit but were unable to get the game changing goal.  Trailing 11-4 in the third, Iona scored six consecutive goals to cut the lead to one, but it was as close as the team would get.

Lloyd had two goals and two field blocks in the game.  Elmore had two goals and two steals, while Siemeck and junior Matthew Stelnicki also each had two goals.  Hill made 10 saves for the Gaels.

Iona and Navy played close throughout, as the teams each scored twice in the first and four times in the second to knot the game at six after the first half.  In the third, Navy outscored Iona 7-4 before outscoring the Gaels 5-3 in the fourth to pull out the 18-13 victory.

Lloyd once again led the Iona offense, scoring four goals.  Elmore continued his hot day with three goals and two steals.  Stelnicki scored twice and picked up three steals in the final game of the day.  Hill finished with 10 saves.

Iona wraps up its weekend at Navy, when they face Bucknell at 9:30 am.

Iona-Gannon
Goals: Iona: Jake Lloyd 4, Kyle Elmore 3, Ian Thompson 3, Tommy Keefe 2, Kristian Bocage 1, Connor Bracken 1, James Ramaley 1, Cody Siemeck 1, Kevin Caulfield 1, Sean Davis 1, Zach Presto 1, Brandon Crane 1, Joseph De Leone 1
Saves: Iona: Stefen Hill 8, Mike Pufunt 1

Score by Quarter    1   2   3   4  -  Final
Iona College        6   6   5   4  -     21
Gannon              3   2   2   0  -      7

Score by Quarter    1   2   3   4  -  Final
Iona College        2   1   4   3  -     10
GW                  4   3   4   0  -     11

Score by Quarter    1   2   3   4  -  Final
Iona College        2   4   4   3  -     13
Navy                2   4   7   5  -     18