ANNAPOLIS, MD – The Iona men's water polo team dropped two hard-fought matches to Fordham University and No. 18 George Washington today to open the season with a 1-3 record for this weekend's 2018 Navy Open hosted by the United States Naval Academy.

Fordham 10, Iona 6

After falling behind 5-2 in the first period, Iona made a strong defensive effort in the remaining quarters, but the offense could not rally this morning in a 10-6 loss to rival Fordham University in today's first match in Scott Natatorium

Freshman German Rodriguez led Iona with two goals, while senior co-captain Jason Hill, sophomore Patrick Hudak, sophomore Andrew Brozovic and freshman Michael Freeley had one score each.  The Gaels dished out three assists.

In goal, junior Jorge Andres Torres made 12 saves on 22 Fordham shots and added a steal.

Defensively, the maroon-and-gold nabbed four steals with two by Hill and the team added one blocked shot. The Gaels drew nine Ram kickouts with three by sophomore Brett Hofer, while being ejected 14 times.  Junior Quinn Lloyd and sophomore Dalton Hansten were disqualified with three ejections each. The Gaels turned the ball over ten times. Iona scored three goals on eight man-up opportunities, while Fordham made five of 13 chances.

In the opening 2:40, Fordham scored on its first three possessions, including a five-meter penalty shot goal, for a 3-0 lead with 5:30 remaining in the first quarter. Brozovic put the Gaels on the board 26 seconds later, but the Rams answered on their next time down the pool for a 4-1 advantage at the 4:19 mark. With 1:13 to go, Feeley found the back of the net to trim the Fordham lead to 5-3 going into the second period.
With 1:37 gone in the second quarter, Rodriguez capitalized on a 6-5 advantage to pull Iona within two 5-3 until Fordham went back up three 6-3 at the 4:56 mark. The Rams struck again with 1:01 left for a 7-3 halftime lead.

Fordham upped its edge to 8-3 with a man-up goal with 1:03 gone in the third quarter. Hudak's goal followed by Hill's score on a Wachowski assist narrowed the Ram lead to three with three minutes on the clock.   After Wachowski drew a five-meter penalty 58 ticks later, Rodriguez got Iona within two 8-6, but Fordham scored for a 9-6 edge going into the final period.

After several Iona near-miss shots on goal, Fordham went up four 10-6 with 5:23 left on the only goal by either squad in the fourth quarter.

No. 18 George Washington 18, Iona 7

Managing only one goal in the first half, the Iona offense connected with six second-half goals, but could not close the gap in a 18-7 loss to George Washington in today's second game in Lejeune Hall.

Hudak and Lloyd led the Gaels with two goals each, while Hansten, Hofer and Brozovic had one score apiece. The Gaels added two assists.

In the first half, Torres made ten saves on 19 George Washington shots and collected three steals. In the second half, junior goalie Michael Banks made seven saves on 14 Colonials shots and three steals.

On defense, Iona took 10 steals. The Gaels drew seven Colonial kickouts, while being ejected six times. Iona had 17 turnovers. The Gaels scored once on seven man-up opportunities, while the Colonials scored twice on six chances.

One minute into the match George Washington struck first, then followed with two unanswered goals for a 3-0 lead with 2:01 left in the opening period. With 4:48 left in the second period, the Colonials upped their advantage to 4-0, then followed with four unanswered goals to lead 8-0 with 55 ticks remaining. Hudak broke Iona's offense drought 17 seconds later as George Washington led 8-1 at intermission.

George Washington scored three consecutive goals in the opening 2:02 of the third period to lead 11-1 until Lloyd's goal cut the Colonials lead to 11-2 with 4:06 on the clock. After George Washington answered on its next possession, Hofer found the back of the net making the score 12-3 with 2:21 left. With one second on the clock, Hansten scored following another Colonials goal, as George Washington led 13-4 going into the final period.

On Iona's first fourth-quarter possession, Brozovic began a three-goal Gael rally with goals from Lloyd and Hudak to reduce George Washington's edge to six 13-7 with 6:09 remaining. Five consecutive Colonials scores in the final minutes sealed their win.

Although describing his team's effort against Fordham "a pretty solid game," Iona head coach Brian Kelly was disappointed with the poor performance against a nationally ranked opponent. "I felt like we played a pretty solid game versus Fordham," Iona head coach Brian Kelly said. "We had plenty of opportunities to win that game.  We had too many high-percentage scoring chances that we did not convert on. "We took a major step back against George Washington. We did not bring the proper effort, aggressiveness or work ethic that it takes to be competitive with an excellent team."

The Gaels travel to Princeton University for three matches next Friday and Saturday.   On Friday, Iona takes on California Baptist at 5:15 p.m., and George Washington at 9 p.m.  On Saturday, the Gaels face Johns Hopkins at 6:45 p.m.