NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Hynes Center Pool was rocking on Wednesday night for a dramatic overtime Northeast Water Polo Conference match that featured six ties and multiple roller coaster moments. The Iona College men's water polo team led as late as the third quarter, but fell short of completing an upset against No. 17 St. Francis Brooklyn. The Terriers held the Maroon & Gold scoreless in the extra periods, resulting in a 14-12 decision in each teams' league-opener.
GAME SUMMARY
Sophomore
German Rodriguez led the Gaels with six goals, three of which came in the first period. He also had two assists. Freshman
Lester Machado had two scores. Junior
Brett Hofer, junior
Andrew Brozovic, sophomore
Justin Ginsberg, and sophomore
Michael Feeley all scored one goal each. Iona finished the match with five assists.
In goal, senior
Jorge Andres Torres made 14 saves, including two five-meter penalty saves, on 27 St. Francis Brooklyn shots. He also swiped up three steals. On defense, the Gaels collected 11 steals with three by Brozovic and the combined for a pair of blocked shots. Iona drew 11 Terriers exclusions, while being ejected 15 times. The Maroon & Gold scored on five of 12 man-up chances, while the Terriers capitalized on one of 11 chances. Iona turned the ball over 23 times.
With 1:17 gone in the match, Rodriguez put Iona on the board with a 6-5 advantage score. It was followed by Ginsburg's goal 37 seconds later for a 2-0 Gael lead. The Terriers answered on its next possession to pull within one. Forty-one ticks later, Rodriguez's second score put Iona back up two 3-1 with 5:10 on the clock. On their next trip down the pool, the Terriers got back within one 3-2, until Rodriguez's third score gave the Gaels a two-goal edge 4-2 with 2:34 remaining. Fifty-eight seconds later, the Terriers cut the Gael advantage back to one going into the second period.
With 2:01 gone in the second quarter, Hofer restored the Iona lead to two, but then two unanswered St. Francis scores tied the match at five with 4:25 left. The Gaels answered with their own pair run on Rodriguez's fourth goal and Brozovic's score with 3:55 on the clock. Forty-one seconds later, the Terriers cut the home lead back to one 7-6, until Feeley found the inside corner of the cage to put the Gaels up 8-6 with 1:59. The margin remained two until 14 seconds on the clock when the visitors trimmed Iona's edge to one, 8-7, at intermission.
In the third period, neither squad scored until St. Francis tied the match at eight with 5:47 remaining. With Rodriguez's fifth goal, Iona regained the lead with at the 3:09 mark, but the Terriers hit two straight scores for the visitors' first lead of the match with 10-9 with 1:21 left. Machado's first goal with 20 ticks on the clock retied the game at ten going into the final period.
The Terriers needed only 48 seconds to regain their edge 11-10. With 5:11 left in regulation, Rodriguez missed a five-meter penalty shot, but hit a second chance that was awarded after an infraction by the Terriers goalie. His final score of the game tied the game at 11. After a St. Francis scored, Machado's second goal with 1:13 left sent the match into overtime tied at twelve each. Iona had one chance to win the game with two seconds remaining on a late heave from Andres Torres.
The Terriers went up one 13-12 with 35 seconds gone in the first overtime. After Torres made his second five-meter save with 1:11 to go, the Terriers tacked on another score with 17 ticks left in the first overtime period for a 14-12 lead. Neither squad scored in the second extra period as the visitors held on for the win.
UP NEXT
Iona will host three conference matches this weekend. On Saturday, the Gaels face Brown at 9 a.m., then honor their four student-athletes;
Michael Banks,
Quinn Lloyd, Torres and
Daniel Savage, before an 8 p.m. match against MIT. On Sunday, Iona takes on Harvard at 3 p.m.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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