PRINCETON, NJ – Even with five goals from freshman Patrick Hudak, the Iona men's water polo team (2-4 overall) lost to Santa Clara University and No. 17 George Washington University today in two matches at the Princeton Invitational.

Iona 6 Santa Clara 9

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After being outscored 4-0 in the opening four minutes, Iona narrowed Santa Clara's lead to 5-4 at halftime, but managed only two goals in the second half to fall 9-6 to the Broncos in this afternoon's match.

Senior Andrew Judge, senior Marc Stauble, senior Matthew Rothman, junior Jason Hill, junior Zach Roper, sophomore Quinn Lloyd scored one goal each for the Gaels.   Rothman assisted on two goals, and Judge on one.  The Gaels committed six turnovers.

In goal, sophomore goalies Jorge Andres Torres made 10 saves on 18 Broncos shots and three steals in the first half, and Sebastian Van Reekend made seven saves on 18 shots, including stopping a five-meter penalty shot, and three steals in the second half.

On defenses, the goals accounted for six of eight Gaels steals, while Stauble made two.  Iona had three blocks – two by Lloyd and one by Hill.   The Gaels were ejected eight times, while only drawing three Santa Clara kickouts.

On its first possession, Santa Clara took advantage of a 6-5 advantage to go up 1-0 with 33 seconds gone in the match.   Due to Iona defensive lapses, the Broncos scored twice in the next 1:17 for a 3-0 lead, as Iona head coach Brian Kelly called time out with 6:01 left in the first period.  Santa Clara mounted a 4-0 advantage until Judge put Iona on the board assisted by Rothman with 3:29 to go.  The Gaels managed only four shots on goals in the period, as the Broncos trailed 4-1 going into the second quarter.

Just 1:12 into the second, Santa Clara went up 5-1, but Roper got Iona within three 5-2 with 4:22 on the clock.  After Rothman drew a Broncos ejection, Hill capitalized on the man-up chance with 1:41 left.  Lloyd hit Iona's second unanswered goal 51 ticks later to trim Santa Clara's edge to 5-4 at halftime.
Three straight scores in the opening 2:40 of the third period gave Santa Clara an 8-4 lead.  Rothman found the back of the net with 3:05 left to pull Iona within three 8-5, then Van Reeken stopped a Broncos five-meter penalty shot 27 ticks later.

In the final period, the Broncos scored with 5:01 remaining, while Stauble's lob added an Iona goal with 16 seconds in the match.
 
Iona 11 George Washington 18

Despite Hudak's five-goal performance, which resulted in the Gaels trailing by only one goal late in the first quarter, Iona fell 18-11 to George Washington (#17) in the nightcap.

Hudak led the Gaels with five goals, while seniors Jonathan Hulbert and Andrew Judge scored two.  Seniors Patrick Judge and Marc Stauble had one goal each.  Senior Matt Rothman assisted on three Gael goals.

In goal, sophomores Sebastian Van Reeker had six saves on 20 Colonials shots, two steals and one assist in the first half and Jorge Andres Torres had five saves on 15 shots and one steal in the second half.

On defense, the Gaels block three shots and made eight steals with three by Stauble. The Gaels were ejected nine times, while drawing four Colonials kickouts.  Iona turned ball over five times.  Iona did not score on three man-up chances, while George Washington converted three of nine.

In the opening 1:42, George Washington scored twice to lead 2-0.  Twenty-four seconds later Hudak assisted by Roper put Iona on the board, but the Colonials answered on their next possession for a 3-1 edge with 5:31 on the clock.    The Gael rookie continued to lead the offense with his second goal 16 seconds later and pull his squad within one 3-2.  George Washington hit two straight goals until Hudak's third score, followed by Pat Judge's goal, to trim the Colonials lead to one 5-4 with 1:48 left.  George Washington closed out the first quarter with three consecutive scores for a 8-4 going into the second.

On their first two second-quarter possessions, the Gaels narrowed the gap to two 8-6 on Hulbert's goal and Hudak's fourth goal.  George Washington stalled the Iona rally for the rest of the second quarter with five unanswered scores for a 13-6 halftime advantage.

With 1:05 gone in the third, Stauble ended the Gael scoring drought to put Iona with six 13-7.   The Colonials answered, but Andrew Judge found the back of the net with 3:11 remaining.  Hudak's fifth goal with 25 ticks left narrowed the George Washington lead to five 14-9 going into the final period.

The Colonials added three goals to their lead in the fourth quarter, while Hulbert and Andrew Judge scored in the final 1:29.

Even with today's two losses, Kelly is confident that his squad will be "very solid this season."

"I'm happy where we're at," said Kelly, now in his 23^rd season at the helm.  "Second game today we made some bad defensive decisions, but GW also shot the ball really well.  "We're a much different team than we were last year.  I'm excited and we're going to be very solid this season."

The Gaels wrap up their three-match road trip here tomorrow against Johns Hopkins University at 1:45 p.m.