NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College men's soccer team is championship bound; the Gaels took down Quinnipiac 2-1 in Connecticut and will meet top-seeded Saint Peter's in the MAAC Championship this Sunday. Najim Romero and Josh Plimpton were responsible for both of Iona's goals.

MATCH SUMMARY

Iona, as they typically look to do, applied early pressure to open the match. Jon Paul Fernandez had the first shot, testing Jared Mazzola in the third minute. Mazzola made an easy save on the shot that skipped twice before reaching the goal line. The Gaels had three set-piece tries from the corner in the opening 15 minutes, but only two shots, and neither came via the corner kick.
 
In the 22^nd minute, Plimpton opened up the scoring with a right-footed strike past Mazzola. Romero fed a pass up ahead that he received from Fernandez and Plimpton finished it off, drawing first blood for the Gaels early in the match. By the 30^th minute, Iona had a 6-1 shot advantage over Quinnipiac.
 
Romero, on a long run up ahead, chased down the ball and beat Mazzola to the spot; Romero was upended by the keeper and drew a foul inside the box, setting up a penalty kick for the Maroon & Gold in the 34^th minute. Romero lined it up and buried it, meeting his teammates in the near corner to celebrate Iona's 2-0 lead. 
 
Giuliano Santucci made his first stop of the match in the 35^th minute on an Eamon Whelan shot, the second from Quinnipiac in the first half. Iona's keeper made one more save before the end of the half, helping his team enter the break with a two-goal advantage.
 
Eimantas Lotuzys opened up the second half the same way Iona started the first, with a shot towards net. His try went out left and then Iona's next opportunity was called offside minutes later. Santucci continued to play well in net, stopping a Tomas Svecula shot as the Bobcats looked for their first goal.
 
The two sides continued to battle as time ticked away; Iona looked to play conservatively on the defensive end and contain Quinnipiac's attack, resulting in a multitude of throw-ins and fouls between both teams.
 
The Bobcats had their best chance of the second half with 16 minutes left; a corner kick was channeled towards the box on three separate occasions and every time, the Iona backline cleared it out of harms way. Two minutes later, Quinnipiac had another good look towards the goal but Santucci came off of his line to snag the cross out of mid-air.
 
Quinnipiac's persistence finally paid off in the 89^th minute; Brage Aasen scored after a scramble in the box saw the ball bounce out towards him. The Bobcat throw-in deflected off of a couple bodies in the scrum and Santucci had no chance at stopping the blast from Aasen.
 
With 1:44 left on the clock, Iona held off the final Quinnipiac push and the celebration began.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Iona will appear in its first MAAC Championship since 2010. The Gaels will take on top-seeded Saint Peter's in Jersey City, New Jersey.
• The conference championship will be Iona's third appearance in program history; Iona lost to Saint Peter's in 2010 and fell victim to Loyola in 1995.
• Romero finished with three points, scoring once and assisting on Iona's first goal. Plimpton scored the other Gael goal.
• Romero's tally is his first postseason goal in his career.
• Fernandez had the secondary assist on Plimpton's decisive goal.
• Santucci faced 12 shots in net and made five saves.
• The Maroon & Gold outshot Quinnipiac 12-11, but the Bobcats held a 6-5 advantage in shots on net.
• The Gaels were whistled for 20 fouls, compared Quinnipiac's eight. 

UP NEXT

Iona will travel to top-seeded Saint Peter's this Sunday, November 17. The MAAC Championship will kick-off from Jaroschak Field at 1:00 p.m. and the winner will earn the conference's automatic bid to play in the NCAA Tournament.

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