PROVIDENCE, RI - Hoping for its first season win, the Iona University men's water polo team instead dropped two non-conference matches today, losing in double overtime 17-15 to Gannon University and 25-7 to fifth-ranked Fordham University at the Bruno Classic hosted here this weekend by Brown University.

GANNON 17 IONA 15 - 2 OT

In a double-overtime match that featured seven ties and two lead changes, Iona fell short 17-15 to Gannon in this morning's non-conference game.

Juniors Pavle Musikic (seven shots) and Hugh Coyle (five shots) led the Maroon and Gold with three goals each, while junior Daniel Raz, freshman Christian Couch and freshman Charlie Harbour scored two goals apiece. Junior Brett Grady, junior Ryan Tannus and freshman Jack Robison added one score each. In goal, junior PJ Bartzen had seven saves on 34 Golden Knights shots with 17 goals against.

The Gaels scored 15 goals on 40 shots and made nine assists, with three each from Musikic and Tannus. On defense, Iona made three steals and blocked seven shots, with four by Grady. The Gaels drew 13 Golden Knights kickouts (three disqualifications) with five by Musikic, including three five-meter penalties, while being ejected seven times, including a five-meter penalty. Iona committed eight turnovers. Iona scored six man-up goals on 15 chances, while Gannon scored three man-up goals on six chances.

Grady won two of four six-offs. Gannon got on the board first with three straight scores for a 3-0 edge with 4:33 left in the opening period. Starting a 3-0 Gaels run, Harbour ended the Iona drought with 3:18 left to slice the Gannon advantage to two, 3-1. With 56 seconds left, Coyle buried a five-meter penalty shot followed by Raz's goal to tie the match at three-all going into the second period.

With 1:56 gone in the second quarter, Gannon went back up one, 4-3. Couch converted a man-up chance to retie the score at four with 5:19 to go. Musikic gave the Gaels their first lead, 5-4 on a five-meter penalty goal with 4:24 on the clock. Coyle's second score on a man-up chance upped the Iona advantage to two, 6-4 with 2:45 remaining. Just 41 ticks later, Robison did the same for a three-goal 7-4 Iona edge. Continuing a 5-0 run, Couch also hit a man-up goal for an 8-4 Iona lead, but Gannon answered with three seconds left to trim the Gaels' halftime edge to three, 8-5.

The Golden Knights' quarter-opening goal cut the Gaels' edge back to two, 8-6, with 16 seconds gone in the second half. Raz's restored a three-goal 9-6 Iona advantage just a minute later. After a Gannon goal, Musikic's second score put Iona back up three, 10-7 with 3:52 remaining. Three straight Golden Knights goals resulted in the game's third tie at ten, then the Gaels regained the lead 11-10 with 1:03 left. Gannon answered on its next chance to knot the game at eleven-all going into the final period.

Musikic's third goal on a five-meter penalty shot regained the Iona lead 12-11 with 1:40 gone in the final period. Gannon also converted a five-meter penalty goal to tie the match at 12 just 1:02 later. With 50 ticks left, Harbour's second goal put Iona back up one 13-12, but Gannon scored just 29 seconds later for a 13-all tie and overtime. Grady put Iona back up one 14-13 with 57 seconds left in the first overtime period, but two straight Gannon goals gave the Golden Knights a one-goal 15-14 edge going into the second overtime. Two more consecutive Gannon scores in the second overtime gave the Golden Knights a 17-15 win despite Tannus' goal with six seconds left.

#5 FORDHAM 23 IONA 7

Facing their third nationally ranked team in two days, the Gaels fell 25-7 to fifth-ranked Fordham University in this afternoon's match. Musikic led the Maroon and Gold with four goals on eight shots, while Coyle scored twice on four shots. Tannus added one goal. In goal, sophomore Kyle Chin Lee had eight saves on 34 Rams shots with three steals and 25 goals against.

The Gaels scored seven goals on 27 shots and made four assists. On defense, Iona made three steals and blocked three shots. The Gaels drew six Rams kick-outs, three by Musikic, including two five-meter penalties, while being ejected five times, including one five-meter penalty. Iona committed 17 turnovers. Iona scored two man-up goals on six chances, while Fordham scored four man-up goals on five chances. Grady won two of four swim-offs.

Fordham opened the match with three straight scores for a 3-0 lead with 2:14 gone in the first quarter. Musikic got Iona on the board to slice the Fordham edge to two 3-1 with 5:12 on the clock. The Rams tacked on four consecutive goals to build a six-score 7-1 advantage going into the second period. With 46 ticks gone in the second quarter, Musikic scooped up a loose ball for a breakaway skip-shot goal to pull Iona within five, 7-2. The Rams answered on their next possession to go up six, 8-2. Tannus sliced the Fordham margin to five, 8-3, but the Rams scored four straight goals for a 12-3 lead with 58 seconds left. Fourteen seconds later, Coyle's five-meter penalty goal sliced the Fordham halftime advantage back to eight, 12-4.

After five consecutive Rams scores, Musikic tallied his third hat trick of the season to trim the Fordham edge to 16-5. Fordham tacked on three more scores until Musikic found the back of the net for the fourth time as the Rams led 19-6 with 2:34 left in the third quarter. After two more Fordham scores, Coyle's second goal cut the Rams' lead to 21-7 going into the final period. In the fourth period, the Rams added two more consecutive goals to seal their 23-7 win as the Gaels failed to score in the quarter.

PLAYER THOUGHTS

The team's three co-captains – Bartzen, Musikic and Grady – agreed that this weekend was a challenging learning experience for Head Coach Brian Kelly's "young, talented team." "The first tournament of the season is hard for every team," they said. "We have such a young, talented team and there is so much to be excited about. Everyone stepped up and showed that this season is about to be one of the best for us."

UP NEXT

This Wednesday at 4:30 p.m., the Gaels take on the United States Air Force Academy in a non-conference contest at the Greenwich YMCA, Greenwich, CT.