CLAREMONT, CA – Second half struggles was the story on Friday afternoon, as the Iona men's water polo team dropped contests to Whittier and Cal Lutheran in the Gary Troyer Tournament.
Game 1: Whittier 13, Iona 9
Iona and Whittier College were neck-and-neck for the first halfbut the Poets pulled away in the final 16 minutes to down the Gaels 13-9. Senior
Zach Roper tallied a team-high three goals and added three assists. Freshman
Patrick Hudak notched a pair of goals, with
Patrick Judge,
Spencer Anthony,
Marc Stauble and
Jonathan Hulbert each finding the back of the net once.
Andrew Judge and Roper each picked up three ejections. In net,
Jorge Andres Torres made 11 saves, nabbed seven steals and added two assists.
Iona came out of the gate hot, receiving goals from Hudak and Hulbert within the first three minutes. The Poets responded 24 seconds later and tallied two more goals in the quarter's final minutes.
The second frame saw Roper score two goals in the quarter's first 51 seconds. Stauble scored his lone tally with 5:23 to go in the half before the Poets cut the Iona lead back to one with 4:01 to go. Anthony and Roper scored the next two in succession , but with 1:02 remaining, Whittier brought the score back to within one, 7-6.
The Poets locked down in the second half, scoring six goals and limiting Iona to a pair off the arms of
Patrick Judge in the third quarter and Jonathan Hudak late in the fourth quarter.
Game 2: Cal Lutheran 17, Iona 5.
Iona struggled to get things going in the second game, falling to the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen 17-5. Roper led the team in goals with three, with Hudak and Hulbert tallying the others.
Sebastian Van Reeken played three quarters, stopping ten shots and collecting three steals.
Michael Banks came in relief allowing four goals and stopping one shot.
Hulbert scored Iona's first goal, and was followed up by a pair by Roper, as the teams completed the first quarter knotted at 3-3.
Cal Lutheran scored three goals in the second quarter before Roper added one with 1:23 remaining. The team went into the half with the scoreboard reading 7-4 in favor of the Kingsmen.
Hudak's tally came1:38 into the third quarter, and Iona was blanked the rest of the way, conceding nine unanswered goals.
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The Gaels (4-13, 0-4 NEWPC) will return to the Hynes Center on Wednesday, Oct. 11 for an NEWPC matchup with Princeton.
