NEW ROCHELLE, NY -- Despite leading early in both matches, the Iona men's water polo team dropped two NEWPC games today to No. 7 Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to begin a three-match conference weekend at Hynes Pool.

GAME 1: Harvard 16, Iona 8
After a first quarter with three ties and three lead changes, then trailing by only two goals at halftime, Iona (3-10, 0-3) was outscored 10-3 in the second half for a 16-8 loss.

Junior Quinn Lloyd, sophomore Dalton Hansten, freshman German Rodriguez led the Gaels with two goals each. Sophomore Patrick Hudak and freshman Michael Feeley had one goal apiece. Senior Jason Hill made the Gaels only assist.

In goal, junior Jorge Andres Torres made nine saves on 28 Harvard shots and three steals.

On defense, the Gaels had four steals and one blocked shot by sophomore Andrew Brozovic. Iona drew four Harvard kickouts, while being ejected seven times. Hansten was disqualified with three ejections. The Gaels made eleven turnovers. 
 
Iona scored one goal on nine man-up chances, while Harvard took advantage of two of three man-up opportunities.

With 54 seconds gone in the match, Iona struck first on Hudak's goal. Harvard tied the game at one when Torres was ejected with 6:39 left in the opening period. After Harvard went up 2-1 on its next possession, Hansten retied the game at two, then Lloyd gave the Gaels a 3-2 lead with 4:50 on the clock. The Crimson hit four unanswered goals in the closing 4:27 for 6-3 edge going into the second period. Lloyd's second score pulled the Gaels within two 6-4 with 1:31 gone for the only goal by either squad in the second quarter. With 16.26 seconds left, freshman German Rodriguez forced a Crimson turnover, but the Gaels failed to capitalize on a last-second scoring chance as Harvard still led 6-4 at intermission.

Harvard increased its lead to 7-4 on two consecutive goals in the opening 57 seconds of the third period. Hansten's second goal with 6:50 remaining pulled Iona back within three 8-5. The Crimson answered with a 4-0 run to lead 12-5 going into the final quarter.

After the visitors scored three more goals in the opening three minutes, Rodriguez ended the Iona scoring drought, until Harvard upped its edge to 16-6 on its next possession with 3:44 remaining.  Rodriguez and Feeley found the back of the net for the Gaels in the closing 2:37.

GAME 2: MIT 8, Iona 7

After leading 4-1 a minute into the second period, Iona surrendered seven unanswered goals, then mounted a late-game three-goal rally, which fell short in an 8-7 evening loss to MIT.

Hudak led the Gaels with three goals, while Brozovic scored twice. Sophomore Brett Hofer and Rodriguez added one goal. The Gaels dished out two assists.

In goal, Torres made nine saves on 24 MIT shots and added a steal.

On defense, the Gaels made four steals and blocked two shots. Iona drew ten kickouts with four by Hudak and three by Hofer, while being ejected eleven times. Iona turned the ball over 14 times. The Gaels scored on two of ten man-up chances, while the Engineers scored on one of five.

Brozovic needed only 1:52 into the match to get Iona on the board first, but MIT answered on its next possession to tie the game at one with 5:41 remaining in the opening period. With 52 ticks left, the Gaels regained the lead 1-0 on Hudak's score going into the second quarter.

In the first 56 seconds of the second period, Hudak scored twice to put the Gaels up three 4-1. The Engineers trimmed the Gaels to 4-2 with 6:42 remaining. Over the next 2:57, two more unanswered MIT goals tied the score at four with 1:27 until halftime.

The Engineers took the lead 5-4 with 2:11 gone in the third period to begin a 4-0 run for an 8-4 edge going into the final quarter. The Gaels failed to score in the period, including on a 6-on-4 advantage with 1:10 left.

While the Iona defense held MIT scoreless in the final period, with 2:06 left, Rodriguez scored, followed by Hofer, to spark a three-goal rally, which sliced the Engineers lead to two 8-6 with 1:16 on the clock.   Brozovic's goal brought the crowd to its feet as Iona pulled within one with 19 ticks left, but the late Gaels run fell short.

Despite three straight conference losses, Iona head coach Brian Kelly expressed his confidence in his team's "direction" and "attitude" at this point in the season.

"We have a lot of young guys playing," Kelly said. "We're starting to come together. I'm excited about the direction of this team and the attitude of this team. We're very close."

The Gaels will face Brown University on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.