NEW ROCHELLE, NY - In front of a loud and supportive home crowd, the Iona College men's water polo team picked up its first victory of the 2013 season with an 18-16 overtime win over Harvard in CWPA Northern Division action Saturday night at the Hynes Center Pool. Earlier in the day, the Gaels dropped a hard-fought 12-10 match to MIT.
In the nightcap, a game which featured seven ties and seven lead changes, Iona's leading scorer, junior Jake Lloyd, led the Gaels (1-9 overall, 1-1 CWPA North) with six goals, including two in overtime. Senior Lee Stiles and junior Ian Thompson scored four goals each, while sophomore Zach Presto added three and senior co-captain Bryan Driscoll had one. Senior goalie Stefen Hill recorded 10 saves and junior goalie Mike Pufunt stopped seven Harvard shots.
The Crimson (3-8, 1-1 CWPA North) struck first with two unanswered goals, until Stiles' first goal put Iona on the board with 6:01 left in the first period. The Gaels flustered the Crimson defense with five straight goals – three from Stiles, one each from Thompson and Pesto – which gave Iona a 5-2 lead at the first quarter's end.
Harvard opened the second period with three straight scores to tie Iona at five with four minutes left. Iona regained the lead 7-5 as Thompson and Pesto scored, but the Crimson netted a goal with two minutes to halftime to trim the Gael lead to 7-6.
After an unexpected Iona Piper psyched up the fans and squad during halftime, the fired-up Gaels equaled Harvard's five goals in the third period for a 12-12 deadlock entering the final quarter. Lloyd hit two scores, while Stiles, Driscoll and Thompson hit one each.
Harvard hit two scores to lead 14-12 with 4:12 left in regulation. The Gaels then answered with three of their own – two from Lloyd and one from Presto – for a 15-14 edge at the 3:08 mark. The Crimson tied the game at 15 with 2:50 to go, but the Gaels spoiled two Harvard possessions in the final minute to send the match into overtime.
In the first overtime, both teams scored for a 16-16 tie going into the second extra session. Then Lloyd struck twice to seal the win as the Gael defense smothered a Crimson 6-5 offensive advantage in the closing minute.
Against the Engineers, Lloyd led the Gaels with four goals, and junior James Ramaley scored two. Senior Sean Davis, Thompson, junior Kyle Elmore and freshman Gerardo Sanchez Rivera hit one goal each. In net, Hill had four saves.
MIT, ranked third in the Division III CWPA national poll, scored first 1:05 into the match. Lloyd and Davis answered, however, to give the Gaels (0-8) a 2-1 lead at the end of the first period.
Three straight MIT scores in the first five minutes of the second period put the visitors up 4-2, until Thompson pulled Iona with one with four minutes to halftime. Forty-five seconds later MIT scored, but Rivera's first collegiate goal narrowed the score to 4-5 with 30 ticks to intermission. MIT scored at the horn for a 6-4 halftime edge.
Fifteen seconds into the high-scoring third quarter, Lloyd hit his second goal, but MIT struck again 35 seconds later to lead 7-5. Lloyd, the Gaels leading scorer, slammed home his third goal with 5:57 left in the period to pull Iona within one 7-6.
In the next two minutes, the Engineers found the net twice, until three straight Gaels goals – one from Lloyd and two from Ramaley, tied the match at nine going into the final period.
Despite three consecutive MIT goals in the opening 5:41 of the fourth quarter, the Gael defense held the Engineers scoreless in the closing five minutes. With 5:19 left in regulation, Elmore's score narrowed the MIT lead to 12-10, but the Gael rally fell short.
On Sunday, Iona takes on Brown at noon and Connecticut College at 5:30 pm.
