CAMBRIDGE, MA - In two Northeast Water Polo Conference matches on Saturday, the Iona men's water polo team dropped a narrow one-goal decision to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then fell 16-7 to No. 9 Harvard University.

GAME ONE: MIT 11, IONA 10

After leading in the opening quarter and trailing by a single goal at halftime, Iona rallied with one goal in the closing seconds, but fell 11-10 to MIT at Alumni in Saturday's opener.

Junior Andrew Brozovic led the Gaels with five goals, while sophomore Justin Ginsburg and freshman German Rodriguez had two scores each.  Sophomore Michael Feeley had one goal.   The Gaels had seven assists with three each from senior Quinn Lloyd and Ginsburg.  Iona scored its ten goals on 29 shots.

In goal, senior Jorge Andres Torres made nine saves on 29 MIT shots and collected four steals.

On defense, the Gaels made 11 steals and blocked one shot.   The Gaels drew nine Engineers kickouts, while being ejected six times.  Freshman Lester Machado was disqualified.  Iona scored on three of nine man-up chances, and MIT scored on five of six man-ups.  Iona turned the ball over nine times.

Brozovic needed only 26 seconds to put Iona on the board. MIT scored on a five-meter penalty shot to tie the match at one with 2:55 left in the opening period.  The Engineers capitalized on a man-up chance to take a one-goal lead 2-1 with 54 ticks remaining.

MIT upped its edge to two 3-1 on another man-up goal with 41 seconds gone in the second period.  After the hosts tacked on another score at the 4:03 mark, Feeley's goal trimmed the Engineers lead to 4-2 with 2:05 left.  Brozovic hit his second score to pull Iona within one with 53 seconds left to intermission.

The Engineers went back up two 5-3 on their first third-period possession. Forty-nine ticks later, Rodriguez buried a five-meter penalty shot, which was drawn by Brozovic, to chop the home lead to 5-4.   After two straight MIT goals, Brozovic's third score got Iona back within two, 7-5, with 5:15 remaining.    MIT added another goal with 3:41 left, but Ginsburg found the back of the net to cut the Engineers lead back to two with 2:28 to go.

With 3:56 remaining, MIT scored a man-up goal for a 9-6 advantage.  Rodriguez sliced that lead to two, 9-7, on the Gaels next possession 17 seconds later.  After the Engineers added another man-up score, Brozovic's fourth goal got the Gaels within two  again with 2:24 left in regulation.  On Iona's next trip down the pool, Ginsburg sliced MIT's lead to one with 1:14 on the clock.  With 56 seconds left, the Engineers scored, but Brozovic's fifth goal rallied within a single goal, 11-10, with only 43 seconds remained. MIT managed to stall successfully on their possession. A last-second Iona shot fell went wide.    

GAME ONE: NO. 9 HARVARD 16, IONA 7

Despite tying the score after being behind by only three in the first period, Iona was outscored 12-6 in the next three quarters for a 16-7 loss to No. 9 Harvard at Blodgett Pool in Saturday's evening affair.

Machado led the Gaels with two goals.  Senior co-captain Phil Wachowski, Lloyd, Ginsburg, freshman Mohamed Refaat, and freshman Tim Bergamini all had one score apiece.  Iona scored seven goals on 34 shots and made four assists with two by Lloyd.

In goal, senior Jorge Andres Torres made two saves on 14 Harvard shots and grabbed two steals with seven goals against in the first half.  Senior Michael Banks made six saves on 16 shots and nabbed one steal with nine goals against in the second half.

On defense, the Gaels made seven steals.  The Gaels drew nine Crimson kickouts, while being ejected three times.  Iona scored on five of ten man-up chances, and Harvard scored on two of three man-ups.  Iona turned the ball over nine times.

Taking advantage of a man-up chance on its first possession, Harvard went up one, but Wachowski also capitalized on Iona's first man-up opportunity to tie the match at one with 5:26 gone in the match.  Forty-nine seconds later, the hosts regained a one-goals edge, 2-1.  Three straight Crimson goals over the closing 4:37 gave Harvard a 4-1 advantage going into the second quarter.

Harvard continued a 6-0 run into the second period until Machado's man-up goal with 2:02 on the clock trimmed the home lead to 7-2 at intermission.  

With Banks in goal, the Crimson took off on a 3-0 run in the third quarter for a 10-2 lead with 5:20 remaining. Refaat found the back of the net at the 3:58 mark, but Harvard answered 1:29 later to go up eight. With 2:07 left, Ginsburg goal started a two-goal Gael run followed by Lloyd 48 ticks later to cut the Crimson lead to six 11-5.  Harvard answered on its next trip down the pool for a 12-5 lead going into the final period.

After two more unanswered Harvard scores, Machado scored his second goal on a man-up chance, but the hosts answered with two more goals for a 16-6 advantage with three minutes remaining.  With 2:36 left in regulation, Bergamini scored for the Gaels.

UP NEXT

Tomorrow the Gaels travel to Providence, RI, to face Brown University at 3 p.m. The game is being broadcasted live on ESPN3.

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