NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona University men's soccer team capitalized on a penalty kick goal in the 72nd minute to earn a 2-1 win over Mount St. Mary's on Senior Day at Mazzella Field. The Maroon & Gold secured the program's second Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season title with the victory and a Siena win over Manhattan in Riverdale.
The Gaels move to 10-3 overall and 8-1 in conference play. Iona claimed the MAAC regular season title for the second time, with the first coming back in 2009, when the team finished 8-1.
Prior to the game, the Gaels honored eight seniors in the class of 2024:
Nacho Alfaro Monge,
Lans Bovenberg,
Elird Mero,
Riley Belknap,
Aly Camara,
Azal Dottin,
Fabricio Lopez and
Camil Azzam Ruiz.
Azzam Ruiz registered both goals for Iona for his fourth multi-goal game of the season and pushed his season total to 13 goals.
THE RUNDOWN
The Gaels broke open the scoring in the eighth minute of play as graduate student
Matias Morales lobbed a pass over the Mountaineers defense for a cutting Azzam Ruiz. After his initial shot attempt hit the right post, Azzam Ruiz buried the rebound for the early 1-0 advantage.
Pace of played slowed down after that as Mount St. Mary's attempted just three shots that went off target and Iona also registered three shots that missed high to close that half.
The Mountaineers leveled the game up at 1-1 just eight minutes into second half action as Mackie Sacarellos dished a pass out to Jonathan Yowell to strike in past the diving Alfaro Monge. Action between both teams got chippy from then on as the referee issued four yellow cards over the next 14 minutes of action.
Iona looked to apply pressure in the Mount zone as Morales sent a cross into the center of the box in the 72nd minute. Freshman
Jad Benjelloun went to collect the bouncing ball and was met with a high kick from the Mountaineers defense, prompting a yellow card and penalty kick call from the referee. Azzam Ruiz buried the penalty kick opportunity to the right side of the net for the 2-1 advantage.
The game saw to two more yellow cards after that and the Iona defense held the Mountaineers without a shot attempt over the final minutes to seal the victory in front of the home crowd.
GOALIE/TEAM STATS
Alfaro Monge made one save in goal for Iona, making the stop in the 66th minute to keep the score level. The Maroon & Gold held a commanding 15-8 lead on shots for the game but both teams were limited to just a pair of shots each on target.
AROUND THE MAAC
Iona (8-1) stands at the top of the league table with 24 points. Siena (7-2) picked up a 3-2 road win at Manhattan (6-2-1) to move into second place just ahead of the Jaspers. Canisius (1-6-3) earned a 3-0 shutout win over Saint Peter's (1-5-3) in Jersey City and Quinnipiac (1-4-4) topped Niagara (3-4-2) 3-1 this afternoon. Rider (4-2-2) travels to Marist (4-2-2) for a 7:00 p.m. kick-off.
UP NEXT
The Gaels conclude the 2023 regular season on Wednesday (November 1) with a 2:00 p.m. kick-off at Manhattan. Iona will return to Mazzella Field on Thursday (November 9) to host the MAAC semifinal round.
