PROVIDENCE, RI - Despite eleven days of intense preparation after a hard-fought 12-8 road loss to Brown University on November 6, the fifth-seeded the Iona University men's water polo team fell 20-7 to the fourth-seeded Bears in the opening game of the Northeast Water Polo Conference Championship hosted by Brown this weekend.

GAME SUMMARY

Senior co-captain Mohamed Refaat and sophomore Luksa Vlasic led the Gaels with two goals each, while graduate co-captain Justin Ginsberg, junior Trippe Bauman and junior co-captain Andrew Miller added one goal apiece.  Iona scored seven goals on 28 shots and had four assists with two from Miller.

In goal, senior Kyle Laufenberg had 12 saves on 32 Brown shots, two steals, and 20 goals against. On defense, the Maroon and Gold made eight steals with three by Refaat. Iona drew 11 Brown kickouts with three by junior James DiSalle and one five-meter ejection, while being kicked out seven times, including one five-meter ejection. Ginsberg was disqualified with three ejections. Miller blocked one shot for Iona. The Gaels turned the ball over 16 times. Iona scored two man-up goals on 11 opportunities, while Brown made four man-up goals on seven chances.  

Three straight Brown goals gave the Bears a 3-0 edge with 2:02 left in the opening period. Refaat buried a five-meter penalty shot to get the Gaels on board and trim the home advantage to two 3-1 with 1:19 to go. Two more unanswered Bears scores, including a buzzer-beater, upped the Brown lead to four 5-1 going into the second period.

With 1:04 gone in the second quarter, a Brown five-meter penalty goal gave the Bears a five-goal 6-1 cushion.  Twenty-three ticks later, another Brown score resulted in a six-goal 7-1 edge. With 5:09 left, Ginsberg's goal trimmed the Bears lead back to five 7-2. Thirty-five seconds later, Brown answered with a man-up score to restore its six-goal edge 8-2. At the two-minute mark, another Bears score put Brown up seven 9-2 at intermission. In the first half, the Gaels scored two goals on ten shots.

Continuing a 4-0 run, Brown tacked on two straight scores in the opening 1:04 of the third period for a nine-goal 11-9 advantage. On the Gaels next trip down the pool, Vlasic got Iona back within eight 11-3 just 48 seconds later.  Five more consecutive Bears goals put the hosts up 13 with 48 ticks left for a 16-3 advantage going into the final period.  

The Bears continued a seven-goal run into the fourth period with two straight goals to go up 18-3 with 6:03 left in regulation. After Refaat's second score on a man-up chance, the Bears answered on their next chance for a 19-4 margin with 5:23 on the clock. Only 14 seconds later, Bauman found the back of the net to slice the Brown edge to 19-5 in only 14 seconds. In a 3-0 Gaels rally, two straight Iona scores from Vlasic and Miller got the Gaels back within 12 at the 2:39 mark. Brown sealed the win with a final goal with 1:25 to go.

UP NEXT

On Saturday, the Gaels take on number-seven-seeded Connecticut College at 10 a.m.

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