NEW ROCHELLE, NY – After dropping its Northeast Water Polo Conference opener 17-11 to no.11 ranked Harvard University this morning, the Iona University men's water polo scored its first season conference win 15-10 over the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Hynes Pool on Senior Night. Prior to tonight's match, the team honored their four seniors – Timothy Bergamini, Kyle Laufenberg, Lester Machado, Mohamed Refaat.

Harvard #11  17  Iona 11

Down by a single goal at halftime against no. 11-ranked Harvard, the Iona men's water polo fell 17-11 in its first conference contest of the season in this afternoon's match. Freshman Sole Fratila led the Gaels with four goals on four shots, while sophomore Luka Nastic scored twice on four shots. Graduate co-captain Justin Ginsberg, senior co-captain Mohamed Refaat and freshman Coby Scanlon had one goal apiece. The Gaels had seven assists with two by Refaat.

In goal, freshman Aleksandar Slavkovic had seven saves on 18 Harvard shots, three steals and ten goals against in the first and third periods. Senior Kyle Laufenberg has six saves on 13 Harvard shots and seven goals against in the second and fourth quarters. On defense, the Maroon and Gold made 12 steals with three by Refaat. Iona drew nine Crimson kickouts with three by Refaat, while being ejected ten times, including three five-meter ejections. The Gaels turned the ball over 24 times. Iona scored five man-up goals on nine opportunities, while Harvard scored five man-up goals on ten chances.

With 1:27 gone in the match, Harvard stuck first with a five-meter penalty goal, then scored again just 1:02 later for a 2-0 edge with 5:31 on the clock. Another Crimson five-meter penalty goal put the visitors up three 3-0 at the 4:05 mark. Harvard continued a 4-0 run until Vlasic put Iona on the board to cut the Crimson lead to three 4-1 with 1:04 to go. The visitors answered with 12 ticks left for a four-goal 5-1 advantage going into the second period.
 
In the second period, Iona outscored Harvard 5-2. Fratila got Iona back within three 5-2 with 1:20 gone in the second quarter, but Harvard struck again 57 ticks later. After Ginsberg's goal on the Gaels next possession, the Crimson answered for a four-goal 7-3 edge with 4:32 remaining. Three straight Iona goals by Fratila, Scanlon and Refaat cut the Harvard edge to one 7-6 with 1:46 left to halftime.

Harvard scored on its first second-half possession, but Fratila's third goal on Iona's next chance sliced the Crimson edge back to one 8-7 with 47 seconds gone in the third period. After Harvard went back up two 9-7, Fratila's fourth score pulled Iona within one 9-8 with 3:50 to go. Two unanswered Crimson goals gave Harvard a three-goal 11-8 advantage with 1:19 remaining. Despite Nastic's goal with 35 ticks left, Harvard responded 24 seconds later for a three-goal 12-9 advantage going into the final period.

Harvard continued a 4-0 run into the fourth period, including a five-meter penalty score and a man-up goal, to lead 15-9 with 4:56 remaining in regulation. Nastic's second goal pulled Iona back within five 15-10 with 2:37 left, but Harvard scored on its next trip down the pool for a six-goal 16-10 cushion. Ginsberg's second goal cut the visitors lead back to five 16-11 with 1:42 on clock, but the Gaels rally fell short as the Crimson scored twice in the closing 2:37.

Iona 15 MIT 10

After taking an early second-quarter lead, Iona led by as much as seven goals for the team's first conference season win, 15-10 over MIT on Senior Night. Vlasic led the Gaels with five goals on ten shots, while Fratila scored four on seven shots. Junior co-captain Andrew Miller had two goals and Ginsberg, Refaat, junior Trippe Bauman and freshman Rastko Jevdjovic had one goal each. The Gaels made 13 assists with three by Ginsberg.  Scanlon won all four swim offs.Iona scored 15 goals on 32 shots.

In goal, senior Kyle Laufenberg had 12 saves on 27 MIT shots, two steals, one assist and ten goals against. On defense, the Maroon and Gold made 16 steals with three each from Vlasic and Refaat and Miller blocked two shots. Iona drew 11 MIT kickouts with seven by Vlasic, including two five-meter penalty shots, while being ejected 16 times, including one five-meter ejection. Ginsberg, Refaat and Bauman were disqualified with three kickouts each. The Gaels turned the ball over 13 times. Iona scored four man-up goals on 11 opportunities, while MIT scored five man-up goals on 16 chances.

MIT got on the board first with 1:19 gone in the match, but Refaat tied the game at one on a man-up goal just 16 seconds later. Vlasic gave the Gaels their first lead 2-1 on Iona's next trip down the pool with 5:46 remaining in the opening period. Miller continued a 3-0 Iona run to put the Gaels up two 3-1 at the 2:02 mark. After Fratila scored Iona's fourth straight goal with 24 ticks left, MIT cut the home lead back to two 4-2 going into the second period. 

The Engineers opened the second quarter with a five-meter penalty goal to pull within one 4-3 with 22 seconds gone, then tied the game on a man-up chance with 6:49 to go. Ending the visitor's 3-0 run, Ginsberg put Iona up one 5-4 only 18 ticks later. On the Gaels next two possessions, Fratila scored two unanswered goals for a 7-4 edge with 5:07 left.  After a MIT score, Bauman found the back of the net with 4:21 left for a three-goal 8-5 Iona halftime lead.

With 1:06 gone in the third period, Miller's second goal upped the Gaels edge to four 9-5, but the Engineers scored on their next chance to get back within three 9-6. Two straight Iona goals from Fratila and Vlasic increased the home edge to five 11-6 with 4:14 left. Vlasic's third goal gave the Gaels a six-goal edge 12-6 only 40 ticks later much to the delight of the Iona fans. After two straight Engineers goals, including a man-up score, the visitors got within four 12-8 with 32 seconds to go, then Vlasic's fourth score at the four-second mark gave Iona a five-goal 13-8 edge going into the final period.

After Fratila missed a five-meter penalty shot, Vlasic hit his fifth goal for a 14-8 Gaels lead with 5:20 left in regulation.   With 4:35 remaining, Jevdjovic gave the home squad a seven-goal 15-8 cushion, its largest lead of the match. Despite two straight MIT goals in the closing 2:25, Iona held on for its first season conference win on Senior Night.

COACH THOUGHTS

Despite the loss to Harvard, Iona head coach Brian Kelly was pleased with his squad's first day of conference play.

"We had a good start to league play," Kelly said. "If we had played more discipline in the fourth quarter against Harvard, it could have been a great start to league play. Our home games are extremely important. Tomorrow will be a great test."

UP NEXT

On Sunday, the Gaels host number 18-ranked Brown University at 1:30 p.m., and Connecticut College at 4:30 p.m.

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