NEW ROCHELLE, NY  –   Despite matching Harvard University in goals 5-5 in the second half, and down by only two scores halfway through the third period, the Iona College men's water polo team fell 13-9 to the Crimson in the last of three North East Water Polo Conference home contests this weekend at Hynes Pool.

Freshman Patrick Hudak led the Gaels with four goals (3-10, 0-4 NEWPC), and senior co-captain Zach Roper had three scores. Senior Andrew Judge scored two goals. The Gaels dished out two assists.

Sophomore goalie Jose Andres Torres made 18 saves on 36 Harvard shots and two steals.

On defense, Iona made 11 steals with seven by sophomore Quinn Lloyd, and two blocks. Iona drew 13 Harvard kickouts with six from Hudak, while being ejected seven times. The Gaels scored on five of 11 man-up chances, while holding the Crimson to three of six. Iona made 21 turnovers in the match.

Forty-three seconds into the match, Harvard scored on its first possession, followed by two unanswered goals for a 3-0 lead with 3:07 left in the opening period. Roper finally got the Gaels on the board at the 1:17 mark, but the Crimson answered with 13 ticks on the clock for a 4-1 edge.

With Torres ejected, Harvard scored with six Gaels guarding the goal to lead 4-1 with 44 seconds gone in the second. Just 1:08 later, Judge capitalized on a man-up advantage, then Roper hit his second goal on the Gaels next possession to pull within two 5-3 with 4:45 left in the first half. Three straight Crimson goals over the next two minutes put the visitors up 8-3. After Roper's third goal on a man-up chance at 2:33, Harvard led 8-4 at intermission.

Hudak needed only 35 seconds into the third period to pull Iona within three 8-5. The Cincinnati freshman struck again with one tick on the shot clock to narrow the visitors lead to two 8-6 with 3:29 to go. The Crimson struck back with two more goals, including one on a 6-4 advantage, for a 10-6 edge going into the fourth quarter.

The visitors tacked two more consecutive goals in the opening 1:33 of the fourth period until Judge narrowed the Crimson led to 12-7 with 5:15 on the clock. The squads traded goals in the next two possessions with Hudak hitting his third goal of the match and his fourth with 1:23 remaining.

After losing the first four NEWPC games, including three tough matches at home this weekend, Iona head coach Brian Kelly intended to fix his squad's weaknesses in this week's practices and four-match Southern California trip.

"We need to release and get open for each other a little bit better," Kelly said.  "It makes it very difficult to win at home when you're down by four-one in the first quarter. "Our turnovers lead to counterattacks, and that's the focus our team needs to address. That's twenty-one lost possessions to score goals, yet we scored nine goals."

The Gaels travel to Southern California this week for matches against La Verne and Loyola Marymount  on Thursday, and Whittier and California Lutheran on Friday.

At Saturday night's Fall Alumni Weekend banquet, the Iona College water polo program presented Hagan School of Business Professor Eric Moscato with the "Outstanding Gael" Award for his commitment and generosity to the program.