BRONX, NY – Down by a single goal early in the first period, the Iona University men's water polo team could not contain no.18-ranked Fordham University in a 20-11 non-conference road loss as the Rams retained the Judge Cup for the fourth straight year.  Fordham now leads the Judge Cup series 6-3.

GAME SUMMARY

Sophomore Luksa Vlasic led the Gaels with three goals on five shots, while senior co-captain Justin Ginsberg and junior co-captain Andrew Miller scored two goals each. Senior co-captain Mohamed Refaat, junior Trippe Bauman, freshman Sole Fratila and freshman Coby Scanlon had one score apiece. Iona scored 11 goals on 31 shots with seven assists with two from Miller.

In goal, senior Kyle Laufenberg had 13 saves on 28 Fordham shots, and 16 goals against. In the fourth quarter, freshman Aleksandar Slavkovic had no saves on three Fordham shots, one steal and three goals against. On defense, the Maroon and Gold made 11 steals with three each by Refaat and Scanlon. Refaat had the Gaels only blocked shot.  Iona drew seven Fordham kickouts with two by Vlasic, including three five-meter kickouts, while being ejected five times, including one five-meter ejection. The Gaels turned the ball over 19 times. Iona scored three man-up goals on seven opportunities, while Fordham made three man-up goals on five chances.  

The Rams got on the board first with 21 seconds gone in the match for a 1-0 lead. Fordham tacked on another score 1:21 later for a 2-0 advantage. After Ginsberg drew a five-meter ejection, Refaat buried the penalty shot to cut the home lead to one 2-1 with 5:29 remaining. Fordham answered on its next trip down the pool to go up three 4-1 with 4:27 on the clock. With seconds left in a man-up chance, Fratila found the back of the net to slice the Rams edge back to two 4-2 at the 3:10 mark. Two straight Fordham goals in the closing 55 seconds gave the Rams a 6-2 margin going into the second period.

Continuing a 4-0 run, Fordham opened the second period with two consecutive scores to go up by six 8-2 with 2:03 gone. Just 30 ticks later, Vlasic capitalized on a man-up opportunity to pull the Gaels back with five 8-2. The hosts struck again, but Miller's goal got the Gaels within five 9-4 with 3:18 remaining. In the next two possessions, the teams traded goals with Ginsberg scoring for Iona, which resulted in a 10-5 home lead. The Rams answered with a five-meter penalty goal for a 11-5 edge with 1:59 to go. With 58 ticks left, Fordham tacked on another straight goal for a 12-5 halftime lead.

With 1:06 gone in the third period, Vlasic's second score on a five-meter penalty shot got the Gaels back within six 12-6. Four straight Rams goals, including a 6-on-5 score, gave Fordham a 16-6 lead with 1:51 on the clock. In the fourth period, the Gaels outscored the Rams 5-4. 

After Fordham's fifth straight score with 36 seconds gone in regulation, Scanlon ended the Iona offensive drought 29 ticks later to slice the home cushion back to ten 17-7. Following a Rams goal, Ginsberg's second score got the Fordham edge back to ten 18-8 with 5:15 to go. Following more consecutive home scores, three straight Iona goals by Vlasic, Miller and Bauman reduced the home margin to nine 20-11 at the 2:30 mark, but the Gaels rally fell short. 

The Cup is named after Dr. Francis X. Judge, a water polo pioneer at Fordham, and the founder of the Hudson Valley Water Polo Club. Dr. Judge was the father of five Iona water polo players, three Goal Club Hall of Famers: Greg '84 (HOF '03) and volunteer assistant coach, Matt '86 (HOF '09), Ray '87 (HOF '09), Mike '94 and Kevin '95. Chris '80 (Fordham HOF '96), his second oldest son, starred for Fordham, and also coached the team. His grandson, Patrick ('18) is the current assistant coach.

UP NEXT

This weekend, the Gaels head to New England to take on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Saturday at 11:30 a.m., and no. 14-ranked Harvard University at 7 p.m. On Sunday, the Gaels face Brown University at 3 p.m., and Connecticut College at 6 p.m. 

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