NEW ROCHELLE, NY - Despite leading in both matches and a lively home crowd, the Iona College men's water polo team dropped two Northeast Water Polo Conference matches against Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the Hynes Center Pool on Saturday.

Prior to the evening match, the squad's five seniors were honored – Michael Banks, Quinn Lloyd, Daniel Savage, Jorge Andres Torres and Philip Wachowski.

BROWN 14, IONA 11

After leading by two goals, 7-5, at halftime, the Gaels were outscored 7-2 in the third period which resulted in a 14-11 conference loss to Brown in Saturday's morning match.

Junior Andrew Brozovic led the Maroon & Gold with three goals, while senior Quinn Lloyd and freshman Lester Machado had two scores each.  Senior Phil Wachowski, junior Brett Hofer, sophomore Justin Ginsburg and freshman German Rodriguez made one goal apiece. Iona had five assists.  

In goal, senior Jorge Andres Torres made seven saves on 26 Brown shots and collected three steals.

On defense, Iona made nine steals and blocked two shots.  The Gaels drew 13 Bears kickouts, while being ejected nine times.  Rodriguez was disqualified with three ejections.  Iona hit seven goals on 13 man-up chances, while Brown made three of nine.   The Gaels turned the ball over 21 times and scored eleven goals on 33 shots on goal.

With 1:15 gone in the match, Lloyd put Iona on the board first, but Brown answered on its next possession to tie the score at one with 6:24 left in the opening period.   Two straight Gael goals from Rodriguez and Brozovic gave Iona 3-1 edge with 5:04 on the clock.   After the Bears pulled back within one at the 2:37 mark, Machado put the Gaels back up two, 4-2, going into the second period.

Two consecutive Brown five-meter penalty shot goals in the opening 1:44 of the second quarter knotted the score at four.  Iona went on its own 2-0 run as Wachowski and Machado found the back of the net for a two-goal lead with 2:56 remaining.   With 44 ticks left, Brozovic put Iona up three, but ten seconds later Brown cut the Gaels advantage back to 7-5 at intermission.

The Bears opened the third quarter with three consecutive scores to go up one 8-7 with 5:02 remaining. Lloyd hit his second goal on a five-meter penalty shot to retie the score at eight.  After two straight visitors' goals, the Gaels fell behind two, 10-8, until Ginsburg to Iona back within one 10-9 with 1:55 left.  Brown tacked on two more goals for a 12-9 lead going into the final period.

With 5:41 remaining, the Bears capitalized on a 6-4 advantage with Torres ejected. On Iona's next possession Brozovic's third goal pulled the Gaels back within three, 13-10.   Continuing a two-goal Gael run, Hofer scored on a man-up chance with 3:16 on the clock, but the Iona rally fell short as the Bears scored with 36 seconds left to clinch the final, 14-11.

MIT 10 Iona 9 (2OT – SUDDEN DEATH)

In a double-overtime game featuring six ties, the Gaels dropped the evening match to MIT 10-9 in sudden death. Iona had separate leads in both portions of the first overtime.               
              
Hofer, Brozovic, Machado, Rodriguez each scored two goals for the Gaels.

In goal, Torres made eight saves on 19 MIT shots with eight goals against and one steal. Banks made three saves on five MIT shots with grieved two goals against in the second quarter.

On defense, Iona made five steals with two from Brozovic and the Gaels had three blocked shots.   The Gaels drew 13 Engineers kickouts, while being ejected six times.  Rodriguez was disqualified with three ejections.  Iona turned the ball over 15 times.  Iona scored on four of eleven man-up chances, and MIT made two of seven.

MIT got on the board first with 35 seconds gone in the match, then upped its lead to two 2-0 with 2:09 remaining in the opening period.   Machado got the Maroon & Gold rolling with his first goal 29 seconds later to cut the visitors edge to one going into the second period.

With 1:03 gone in the second quarter, Brozovic's skip shot knotted the score at two.   After the Engineers hit two unanswered goals, Machado's second goal with 36 ticks left trimmed MIT lead back to one 4-3 at halftime.

Iona outscored MIT 3-1 in the third quarter to take the lead. Hofer's two straight goals on two consecutive Gaels possessions tied the game, then the Gaels upped it another notch to take a 5-4 lead with 5:04 remaining.  Brozovic's second goal increased the Iona lead to two at the 3:51 mark.  MIT got back within one 6-5 on a five-meter penalty shot with 1:58 on the clock.

The visitors tied the game for the third time with 1:15 gone in the fourth period, but Rodriguez put Iona back on top 7-6 just 1:10 later.  With 48 seconds left in regulation, the Engineers tied the game at seven to take the game into overtime.

The Gaels regained the lead 8-7 on Rodriguez's five-meter penalty shot goal with 2:23 left in the first overtime.  Capitalizing on a 6-5 advantage, the Engineers tied the score at eight with 2:05 left in second overtime.   After Iona head coach Brian Kelly called time with 39 seconds on the clock, Machado's third score put the Gaels up one 9-8 at the 14-second mark.  MIT answered with only five seconds left to force another overtime with the score tied at nine.   One minute into sudden-death overtime, MIT scored for the win.

UP NEXT

The Gaels conclude their three-match home weekend against Harvard University tomorrow, Sunday, Oct. 6, at 3 PM.

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