PRINCETON, NJ – Despite taking the ninth-ranked Princeton Tigers to double overtime, the Iona College men’s water polo team fell a goal short, falling to the host team 13-12 in the Gaels second match at the CWPA North-South Crossover that featured nine ties and six lead changes.
Junior Zach Presto led the Gaels with four goals, while senior Kyle Elmore had three, including his 100th career goal. Seniors Jake Lloyd and James Ramaley hit two goals each, and senior Ian Thompson had one.
Senior goalie Mike Pufunt recorded twenty-two saves, and six steals. On defense, Thompson drew three Princeton kickouts, and sophomore Elerick Curet had three steals.
In a first quarter featuring three ties and three lead changes, Princeton scored first ten seconds into the match. But Presto answered 26 ticks later to tie the game at one. Elmore’s first goal gave Iona the lead briefly 2-1 with five minutes left, until Princeton tied 14 seconds later. The Tiger retook the lead 3-2 with 2:35 left, until two straight Gael scores by Thompson and Pesto gave the advantage back to Iona as the first period ended.
Pesto scored again in the opening minute, followed by Elmore at the 5:43 mark to put Iona up 6-3. Over the next 4:30 the momentum swung back to the hosts who hit three straight scores to tie the game at four with 1:08 to halftime. With 17 seconds left, the Gaels regained the lead 7-6 on Pesto’s third goal.
With 2:19 gone in the third period, Princeton tied the match for the fifth time at seven, but Preston again gave Iona the edge back 8-7 with 4:39 left. Princeton tied the match at eight 17 ticks later, but Curet’s block saved the hosts from regaining the lead.
Thirty-three seconds into the final period, the hosts went back on top 9-8, but the Gaels would not surrender. Lloyd retied the game with 5:37, then Ramaley’s high lob found the left top of the cage, as Iona climbed back on top 10-9, only to have a Princeton five-meter penalty shot knot the match at ten with 1:24 left. With 14 ticks left in regulation, the Tiger scored for the lead 11-10, but Lloyd slammed another goal into the back of the net to send the game into overtime tied at 11.
In the first two-minute overtime period, Princeton went back on top 12-11 with 1:38 left, while Pufunt’s soaring save blocked a certain breakaway Tiger goal. Princeton scored with 1:45 left in the second overtime, followed by Ramaley’s goal at 7.6 as the Gael rally fell short.
Head coach Brian Kelly praised his team’s strong effort against a nationally-ranked team on its home pool.
“This is not only the best game we played all season, against a top-ten team in the country, but probably one of our best men’s team games of the past five years,” Kelly said. Unfortunately we had chances to put the game away, and we couldn’t finish off a great team at home.
“Princeton has been playing absolutely amazing against elite competition in the country, so it was nice to see that we could stand toe to toe.”
The Gaels return home to face four CWPA opponents next Saturday and Sunday at Hynes Pool.