NEW YORK, NY — Even with a hopeful opening half, the Iona men’s water polo team fell to John Hopkins University 20-9 in the first of four matches this weekend at the 2015 Navy Open hosted by the United States Naval Academy.
Senior Rafael Romero, and junior Chris Ellis led Iona with two goals, while junior Matt Rothman, junior Hudson Grieve, junior Pat Dougherty, freshman Bailey Lyons and freshman Alex Guerra added one apiece. In goal, senior Matt McCrudden and junior Anthony Zdanavicius each had two saves.
Johns Hopkins struck first with 1:57 gone in the match, then hit three unanswered goals for a 4-0 lead with 1:11 left in the first quarter. The Gael offense struggled until Rothman scored at the 30-second mark to narrow the Blue Jays’ lead to 4-1 going into the second.
Holding Johns Hopkins scoreless for the first four minutes of the second period, the Gaels narrowed the gap to 4-3 on scores from Ellis and Romero, who capitalized on a 6-5 advantage. But the Blue Jays rallied with five straight scores until Lyon’s first collegiate score with one tick left on the clock as Iona trailed 9-4 at intermission.
Despite Ellis’ five-meter penalty score 1:05 into the third, and Hudson’s goal with 1:08 left, Johns Hopkins added eight goals for a 17-6 lead going into the final period. Both teams scored three goals in the fourth. Guerra hit his first goal as a Gael 1:23 into the fourth, followed by Romero’s second score with 4:23 left, and Dougherty 1:07 later.
GAME TWO vs. Princeton
The Iona men’s water polo team dropped its second straight match today in a 20-3 loss to number-eleven ranked Princeton University in the second of four games this weekend at the 2015 Navy Open hosted by the United States Naval Academy.
Junior Pat Dougherty, sophomore Marc Stauble and freshman Alex Guerra scored one goal each for the Gaels. In goal, senior Matt McCrudden had five saves and freshman Anthony Zdanavicius did not record a save. On defense, Iona drew nine ejections and made four steals, but turned the ball over nine times on offense.
In the opening period, Princeton reeled off six consecutive goals until Dougherty broke the Iona offensive drought with 1:59 to go. But Princeton answered on a 6-5 advantage to lead 7-1 entering the second quarter. Unable to mount a consistent attack, the Gaels were scoreless in the second period, while Princeton found the back of the net seven times to lead 14-1 at intermission.
The Tiger hit four consecutive goals until Guerra scored on a 6-5 advantage with 2:11 left in the third period, but Princeton answered to lead 19-2. Both teams recorded a goal in the final period with Stauble scoring for Iona with 2:44 left in the game.
While disappointed with two losses to open the season, head coach Brian Kelly believes this squad has the potential to improve against strong competition.
“We have a long way to go and we’re going to have to grow up quickly if we want to be competitive this season,” Kelly said. “We’re a very inexperienced team, and we have a lot of guys who have not played together before.”
“Fortunately we’re seeing improvements on a daily basis through hard work. It’s a long season. I expect this to be a much better team from week to week.”
On Sunday, Sep. 6, the Gaels take on Mount San Antonio College at 9:15 a.m. and Penn State Behrend at 1 pm.