BRONX, NY - After trailing by a single goal 7-6 at halftime, the Iona men's water polo was outscored 10-5 in the second half to fall 17-11 to Fordham University tonight in the opening match of the Gaels 2020-2021 campaign at the Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center.

In his Iona debut, freshman Andrew Miller led the Gaels with three goals on three shots, while drawing four ejections. Senior Patrick Hudak and sophomore Mohamed Refaat scored two goals apiece. Seniors Andrew Brozovic, senior Brett Hofer, junior Justin Ginsberg and sophomore Lester Machado had one goal each.  Iona scored 11 goals on 29 shots. The Gaels assisted on five goals with three by Machado.

In his first start in the cage for the Maroon & Gold, sophomore goalie Kyle Laufenberg made ten saves on 35 Fordham shots. On defense, Iona made one steal and blocked three Fordham shots. The Gaels drew 12 Rams kick outs with four each from Hudak and Miller, while being ejected nine times. Iona turned the ball over 14 times. 

GAME SUMMARY

With 1:32 gone in the match, the Rams stuck first, then found the back of the net again 1:17 later for a 2-0 lead with 4:43 left in the opening period.  Miller scored his first career goal off the post on a man-up advantage to pull Iona with one 2-1 with 3:45 to go. Just 25 ticks into the second period, Hudak took advantage of a 6-5 chance to knot the score at two. Three straight Rams scores, including a five-meter penalty score, gave Fordham a three-goal lead with 6:12 to halftime. On the Gaels next trip down the pool, Hudak's second goal put Iona back within two 5-3 at the 5:31 mark, but the hosts answered 1:14 later for 6-3 edge.  

With 3:34 remaining, Brozovic chopped the home advantage back to two 6-4, but Fordham went back up three 7-4 just 36 seconds later. Two straight Iona goals by Machado and Refaat in the closing 1:25 put Iona within one 7-6 at intermission. Two consecutive Fordham goals in the opening 3:20 of the third period gave the hosts a three-score edge with 4:40 on the clock. The cross town rivals tacked on two more goals for a 11-6 lead until Miller's second score ended the Gaels offensive drought with :46 to go. Another Fordham score 33 seconds later put the Rams up 12-7 entering the final period. 

Refaat's second goal trimmed the home squad's lead to four 12-8 with 2:11 gone in the fourth period. Two straight Rams goals put Fordham back up six at the 4:50 mark.  Hofer's goal with 4:08 left got the Maroon & Gold back within five, but Fordham's two straight scores gave them a seven-goal edge 16-9 with 3:09 left. Ginsberg scored on the Gaels next chance as Iona got back within six 16-10 with 2:28 remaining. After the Rams answered for a 17-10 lead with 1:45 to go, Miller scored his third goal 16 ticks later. 

UP NEXT

The Gaels travel back to Fordham on Sunday for a noon rematch.

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