PRINCETON, NJ - The Iona College men's water polo team dropped a pair of non-conference contests Saturday at the 2013 Princeton Invitational. In game one, the Gaels were stopped by Johns Hopkins 9-3 before suffering a 16-8 defeat at the hands of George Washington in the nightcap.
Against Hopkins, juniors Jake Lloyd, senior Matthew Stelnicki and freshman Patrick Dougherty scored one goal each for Iona. Senior goalie Stefen Hill recorded 15 saves.
Johns Hopkins struck first 18 seconds into the match, but Lloyd tied the score at one a minute later. Hopkins answered with two goals for a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Forty seconds into the second period, Stelnick's goal trimmed the Hopkins lead to 3-2, but the Blue Jays netted three unanswered scores for a 6-2 halftime advantage. In the third, the Gaels defense held Hopkins to one goal, but the offense failed to capitalize, and Iona fell behind 7-2 going into the final quarter.
Hopkins scored twice to take a 9-2 lead with 3:27 remaining in regulation. In the final minute, head coach Brian Kelly inserted his freshmen, and Dougherty responded with his first collegiate goal in the closing seconds.
Against the Colonials, Iona was led by senior Bryan Driscoll, junior James Ramaley and sophomore Zach Presto, who scored two goals apiece for the Gaels. Junior Ian Thompson and junior Kyle Elmore hit one each. Hill recorded nine saves.
Only 37 seconds into the match, George Washington stuck first, then scored two more goals before Presto's first goal trimmed the Colonials' lead to 3-1. After another George Washington score, Elmore hit the net with the five-meter penalty shot pulling the Gaels within two at 4-2. But with 55 seconds left in the first period, the Colonials moved ahead 5-2.
The Gael defense held the Colonials to two goals in the second period, but the Iona offense failed to capitalize by giving George Washington a 9-2 advantage at the half.
In first five minutes of the third period, the Colonials hit three unanswered goals until the Gaels rallied with three in a row. Ramaley slammed home a five-meter penalty with 4:21 left, then Presto and Thompson scored one each in the third's final minute, which trimmed the George Washington lead to 10-5.
The Gaels hit three goals in the final period – Ramaley's second of the night and Driscoll's first two of the season. But the Colonial offense countered with five more for the 16-8 win.
On Sunday, the Gaels will face sixteenth-ranked Santa Clara at 8:00 am, and host Princeton, ranked fourteenth nationally, at 5:00 pm, before heading home for four matches next weekend at the Hynes Center.
