WHITTIER, CA - The Iona College men's water polo team continued its west coast roadtrip with a pair of contests on the opening day of the Gary Troyner Tournament. The Gaels dropped an 11-10 overtime decision before falling to No. 16 Concordia (CA) in the second game of the day.
In the opener, Cal Lutheran and Iona exchanged goals over the first two periods as the teams were knotted 5-5 at half. After the break the Gaels scored three unanswered goals to take an 8-5 lead going into the final quarter.
The Cal Lutheran outscored Iona 5-2 in the fourth frame to force overtime. During the first OT, Cal Lutheran's Zach Graper registered the winning goal as the Gaels were held scoreless over the two overtime periods.
Junior James Ramaley led the Gaels with three goals in the contest while junior Jake Lloyd scored twice. Seniors Lee Stiles, Sean Davis and Jonathan Hernould and juniors Kyle Elmore and Ian Thompson had one goal each.
In the nightcap against Concordia, the Gaels were unable to come back from an early two goal deficit, trailing 4-2 after the first quarter. Four more goals by Concordia would extend its lead to 8-5 at half. The Eagles would then put the game away with a seven goal third period before four more tallies in the fourth.
Lloyd led the Gaels with four goals in the loss. Seniors Bryan Driscoll, Matthew Stelnicki and Stiles had one goal each. Freshmen Patrick Dougherty, Gerardo Sanchez-Rivera and Elerick Curet each had one tally apiece.
Iona concludes its weekend with two more matchups at the Troyer Tournament. The Gaels take on Caltech before a contest against No. 10 Loyola Marymount.
