NEW ROCHELLE, NY - In a hard-fought double-overtime match with nine ties, three lead changes and neither squad leading by more than two goals, the Iona men's water polo team fell 14-12 tonight to St. Francis College (Brooklyn) in the season's first Northeast Water Polo Conference match at Hynes Pool.

Seniors Andrew Judge and Patrick Judge led the Gaels (3-7, 0-1 NEWPC) with three goals each, while senior Marc Stauble had two. Senior Jonathan Hulbert, senior co-captain Matthew Rothman, freshmen Patrick Hudak and Dalton Hansten scored one goal each. The Gaels made seven assists with Stauble and Rothman dishing out two each.

Sophomore goalies Jorge Andres Torres had nine saves on 27 Terriers shots, and Sebastian Van Reeken made six saves 14 shots and two steals.

On defense, the Gaels made nine steals with three by Rothman and nine blocks with three by Rothman. Iona drew 12 St. Francis kickouts with three each from Stauble, senior Zach Roper and junior Spencer Anthony. The Gaels were ejected 19 times, as Andrew Judge, senior Zack Roper and sophomore Quinn Lloyd were disqualified. The Gaels scored on four of 12 man-up opportunities, while the Terriers made six of 18 chances. The Gaels turned the ball over 25 times.

Just 47 seconds into the match, Andrew Judge put Iona on the board 1-0, but the visitors answered on their next possession to knot the score at one with 6:52 left in the opening period. Andrew Judge put the Gaels back up 2-1 at the 4:52 mark, until the Terriers tied the game at two with 2:48 to go. Hulbert's skip shot gave Iona a 3-2 lead with 1:38 left, as the Iona defense stymied a St. Francis 6-5 advantage in the closing 15 seconds.

Outscoring the Gaels 4-1 in the second period, the Terriers retied the match at three with 36 seconds gone, then went up 4-3 with 4:25 left in the first half.  After the visitors called timeout, Patrick Judge tied the game at four at the 3:37 mark. Two straight Terriers scores in the next two minutes gave them a 6-4 halftime lead, as the visitors capitalized on three second-quarter man-up chances.

In the third period, the Gael defense held the Terriers scoreless as Iona scored four unanswered goals. Andrew Judge's third goal pulled Iona within one 6-5 with 1:12 gone in the third quarter.  Stauble's score at 4:22 tied the game for the fifth time at six apiece. With 2:30 to go, Rothman gave Iona the lead back 7-6. After the defense stalled a Terrier 6-5 opportunity with :30 left, Hudak upped the Gael edge to two 8-6 with 11 ticks left in the third quarter. A last-second St. Francis goal was waived off.

The visitors rallied with two straight goals in the opening 1:37 of the fourth quarter to knot the match at  eight. With Hansten's goal on Iona's next possession, the Gaels regained the lead 9-8 with 5:51 on the clock. Patrick Judge's second goal on a 6-5 advantage put Iona up two 10-8 with 4:23 left in regulation. Two straight Terriers scores tied the match at ten with 2:59 remaining. After two Torres saves stopped the Terrier attack, Stauble's second goal with 48 seconds on the clock put Iona up one, but 24 ticks later the visitors answered to send match into overtime tied at eleven.

With 46 seconds gone in the first overtime, Patrick Judge's third score gave Iona a 12-11 edge, then St. Francis retied the score at 12 nine seconds later. The visitors retook the lead with 24 ticks to go for a 13-12 advantage going into the second overtime. St. Francis sealed the win 14-12 with 1:25 remaining.

After his squad played a strong game on both ends of the pool in regulation, Iona head coach Brian Kelly was disappointed at the overtime outcome. "We gave the game away," Kelly said.  "We should have won that one."

During the Fall Alumni Weekend, the Gaels will host MIT at 11:00 AM and Brown at 5:00 PM on Saturday, and Harvard at 2:30 PM on Sunday.