BRONX, NY - The Iona College men's water polo team defeated Fordham University 12-10 Tuesday evening in CWPA Northern Division action.
Seniors Kyle Elmore, Jake Lloyd and Ian Thompson led Iona with three goals each. Seniors James Ramaley and Rafael Romero and sophomore Chris Ellis scored one goal apiece. Senior goalie Mike Pufunt recorded eleven saves in the win.
With 36 seconds gone in the match, Fordham scored first, but Elmore answered 1:13 later to tie the game at one. The Rams hit two unanswered goals until Lloyd capitalized on a 6-on-5 advantage to pull Iona within one, 3-2, with 1:15 left in the first period. But Fordham did the same to increase its lead to 4-2 as the period ended.
In the second quarter, the hosts struck quickly to go up 5-2. Elmore's second goal narrowed the gap to 5-3. With two minutes left to halftime, Fordham went up by four 6-3, but Lloyd hit a five-meter penalty shot to narrow the Ram lead to 6-4 at halftime.
The Iona offense caught fire in the third period to tie and then take the lead, but lost it in the waning seconds. Elmore's lob with 34 seconds gone in the period pulled Gaels within one 6-5. Fordham scored with 4:39 left, but Iona goals from Thompson and Ramaley tied the game at seven with 3:19 remaining in the third. Romero gave Iona its first lead of the match 8-7 with 2:08 on the clock. But the Rams tied the game at eight 58 seconds later, and retook the lead 9-8 with 18 ticks left in the third.
Thompson tied the game for the third time, 9-9, 1:29 into the fourth. Goals from Ellis and Lloyd put the Gaels up 11-9 with 2:15 left. But 20 seconds later, a Fordham shot floated over the goal line to pull the hosts within one, 11-10. In the closing 40 seconds, Thompson's fourth goal and Pufunt's eleventh save sealed the win for Iona.
The win earned the Gaels the Judge Memorial Cup for the second straight season in the third annual contest for the prize. The Cup is named after Dr. Francis X. Judge, a water polo pioneer at Fordham and the founder of the Hudson Valley Water Polo Club.
He was the father of five Iona water polo players including three Goal Club Hall of Famers: Greg '84 (HOF '03), Matt '86 (HOF '09), Ray '87 (HOF '09), Mike '94 and Kevin '95. Chris '80 (Fordham HOF '96), his second oldest son, starred for Fordham and also coached the team. Iona freshman Patrick Judge is the grandson of Dr. Judge.
The Gaels return home Thursday night to face St. Francis College (Brooklyn) at 7:30 pm at the Hynes Center.
