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Iona University Athletics

Water Polo

Men's Water Polo Garrett Murray - Assistant Director of Athletic Communications

Iona MWP Tops Conn College In Home Opener, 14-6

NEW ROCHELLE – The Iona men's water polo team opened their home schedule by notching its third season win with a 14-6 non-conference victory over Connecticut College from New London, CT tonight at Hynes Center Pool.

Junior Lester Machado led the Gaels 2-5 overall with four goals on six shots, while senior co-captain Justin Ginsberg hit three goals on three shots, and sophomore Andrew Miller made three goals on four shots. Freshman Luka Nastic scored two goals, and junior Mohamed Refaat and sophomore James DiSalle had one goal each. The Gaels scored 14 goals on 28 shots. Iona made six assists with two by Machado.

In goal, junior Kyle Laufenberg made 12 saves on 14 Connecticut shots with two goals against and had one steal.   Sophomore Diego Gomez had nine saves on 13 shots with four goals against and one steal. On defense, Iona made 16 steals with three each by Refaat and junior Timothy Bergamini and blocked four shots. Iona drew eight Connecticut kickouts with three from Refaat, while being ejected nine times. The Maroon & Gold turned the ball over six times. Iona scored on one of eight man-up chances, while the Camels did not score on nine chances. 

GAME SUMMARY

Ginsberg put Iona on the board first with 1:51 gone in the match, then Nastic scored his first goal to give the Gaels a 2-0 edge with 5:38 remaining in the first period. Two straight goals by Machado, including a five-meter penalty score, continued a 4-0 Iona run into the second period.

With 20 ticks gone in the second quarter, Refaat upped the Iona advantage to six 6-0. Two straight Camels scores cut the Iona lead back to four 6-2 with 4:22 remaining. DiSalle restored Iona's five-goal advantage 7-2 just 46 seconds later, followed by Nastic's second score for a 8-2 Gaels edge. Miller tacked on another Iona goal with 17 seconds to go as the home squad led 9-2 at halftime. 

Machado's fourth score continued a 4-0 Gael run for a 10-2 lead with 5:29 left in the third quarter. After the Camels cut the home lead back to seven 10-3 on their next trip down the pool, Ginsberg put the Gaels back by eight 11-3 with 3:01 to go. With 2:04 remaining, Connecticut got back within seven 11-4 going into the final period.

Ginsberg's third goal just 1:39 into the fourth quarter gave Iona eight-goal edge 12-4, but Connecticut answered with 5:53 left to slice the home edge back to seven 12-5. Two more Miller goals gave Iona 14-5 lead with 2:07 remaining in regulation. The Camels answered with 37 seconds remaining as the Gaels sealed their third season win.

Ginsberg expressed the team's gratitude to a lively home crowd cheering on the victory as the Gaels head into their conference schedule. "We were very excited to play one at home after a long time of not playing here," Ginsberg said. "We had a great crowd. We're looking forward to continuing our home success as we move into our conference play."

UP NEXT

The Gaels open their conference slate next weekend with four matches. On Senior Day, Connecticut returns here for a rematch at 11 a.m. Saturday followed by a 4 p.m. game against Massachusetts Institute of Technology. On Sunday, Iona takes on Harvard University at 10 a.m. and Brown University at 3 p.m.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Be sure to follow Iona College athletics on all social media platforms:
ICGaels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates)
Iona Water Polo: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates)


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Players Mentioned

Timothy Bergamini

#24 Timothy Bergamini

UT
6' 2"
Junior
Diego Gomez

#1A Diego Gomez

GK
6' 0"
Sophomore
Lester Machado

#2 Lester Machado

DR
6' 4"
Junior
Mohamed Refaat

#3 Mohamed Refaat

DR
5' 10"
Junior
Luka Nastic

#10 Luka Nastic

DR
6' 1"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Timothy Bergamini

#24 Timothy Bergamini

6' 2"
Junior
UT
Diego Gomez

#1A Diego Gomez

6' 0"
Sophomore
GK
Lester Machado

#2 Lester Machado

6' 4"
Junior
DR
Mohamed Refaat

#3 Mohamed Refaat

5' 10"
Junior
DR
Luka Nastic

#10 Luka Nastic

6' 1"
Freshman
DR