NEW ROCHELLE, NY – Returning home fresh off a Saturday sweep in the Bronx, the Iona College Water Polo program (6-20, 0-6 NEWPC) fell short against the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers 18-11 Wednesday night in it's final home game of the 2018 campaign.
Reigning NWPC Player of the Week
Patrick Hudak continued to be an offensive force, scoring five goals to put him at 56 on the season while also drawing six kickouts.
German Rodriguez, named earlier to the NWPC Rookie Team Honor Roll, connected for two goals and two assists on seven shots.
Quinn Lloyd struck once and drew four kickouts.
Jason Hill,
Brett Hofer and
Dalton Hansten each scored once with Hansten adding three drawn kickouts.
In net,
Jorge Andres Torres made six saves and allowed 14 goals in three quarters of play and
Michael Banks came in relief, making four saves.
The Terriers shot out of the gate fast, scoring the game's first five goals over a 5:40 span. Hudak scored Iona's first goal with 44 ticks remaining but the Terriers opened up a 6-1 lead before the first horn.
Iona locked down defensively in the second quarter, holding the opposition to two scores. Rodriguez tallied the lone goal in the quarter and teams went into halftime with the Gaels trailing 7-3.
St. Francis Brooklyn held it's best quarter of the game in the third, scoring seven goals and conceding four to the Gaels. The Terriers notched the first two before Lloyd found Hansten to cut the deficit to five, 9-4. St. Francis Brooklyn responded 11 seconds later. With 3:54 to play in the third, Lloyd connected on a five-meter attempt to pull the Gaels back within a handful. Two more Terriers goals were answered by Hudak with 51 seconds left before the horn. After the opposition extended the lead, Hudak found the back of the net with 13 seconds left. The Terriers responded with two seconds left to take a 14-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
Hill and Hudak found the back of the net in the fourth quarter and after a Terriers' response, Hudak and Hofer scored to cut the deficit to five, 16-11. Iona conceded two more goals in the final minute.
For the contest, the Gaels had 17 man-up opportunities but cashed in on only three.
Iona will conclude the season with a five-game road trip beginning Saturday at MIT (10:00 AM) and Harvard (5:00 PM).
