NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona College men’s water polo team (7-10, 1-4) split its first two matches Friday at the Gary Troyer Tournament. The opening contest saw the Maroon and Gold hold strong in a 16-13 win against Chapman. In the nightcap, the Gaels fell to the University of Redlands 12-7.
GAME 1 vs. Chapman (16-13)
Led by freshmen Quinn Lloyd and Jorge Andres Torres, the Gaels toppled Chapman 16-13 at Axelrod Pool in a see-saw battle that saw 11 ties and 13 lead changes. Lloyd led the attack with four goals, while fellow rookie Torres corraled 10 saves in net.
The Gaels found themselves down 1-0 after an early goal by the Panthers. Junior Zach Roper tallied his first of two goals of the match even the score. Lloyd scored less than a minute later to put the Gaels ahead. The lead did not last long, as the Panthers scored 13 ticks later to knot the score once more. Another tally from Chapman and a goal by senior Matthew Rothman put the score at 3-3 with 3:42 remaining in the period. After a Panthers goal, senior Hudson Grieve found the back of the net, bringing the score to 4-4 with 2:39 left in the quarter. The Panthers took advantage of an ejection of junior Marc Stauble, finding the back of the net to give themselves a one goal advantage. On the Gaels’ final possession of the quarter, Lloyd struck again with his second of the game, knotting the score at 5-5.
Sophomore Andres Guerra opened the scoring 2:13 into the second quarter, with his 11th strike of the season to put the Gaels ahead 6-5. The panthers equalized nearly two minutes later before junior Andrew Judge broke the tie with 2:58 to go in the half. After an ejection from the opposition, Roper scored to give the Maroon and Gold their largest lead of the game, 8-6. Grieve’s ejection with :27 remaining gave way to a Chapman goal, trimming the Iona lead to 8-7 at halftime.
Fourteen seconds into the third quater, Guerra’s ejection set up goal for the Panthers, knotting the score at 8-8. The Maroon and Gold proceded to take advantage of a Chapman ejection just seconds later to put the Gaels back ahead 9-8. Guerra gave the Gaels their second two-goal advantage, finding the bak of the net with 5:56 remaining in the quarter. The Maroon and Gold offense found themselves stagnant for the next 2:48, conceding three goals to Chapman and trailing for the first time. Lloyd haulted the Panthers run, tying the score at 11-11 with 3:08 remaining. 38 seconds later, Stauble connected with his first of the game to put the Maroon and Gold back ahead 12-11. The Gaels did not find themselves leading at the conclusion of the third, as the Panthers offense scored with 33 ticks left on the clock, knotting the score at 12-12.
An ejection by the Panthers 1:17 into the fourth quarter led to a tie-breaking goal by junior Patrick Judge. The Panthers recorded their final tally of the contest with 5:10 remaining in regulation to tie the score at 13-13, as the Gaels’ defense stifled Chapman the rest of the way. Patrick Judge and Lloyd put the Maroon and Gold up 15-13 with 3:44 remaining. Stauble tacked on one more with 1:44 remaining to give the Gaels their largest and final lead of the contest, 16-13.
Six Gaels recorded a multi-goal game. Quinni’s four goals led the team, followed by two goals each from Patrick Judge, Andres Guerra, Stauble, Grieve, and Roper. Rothman, Patrick Judge and Andres Guerra each dished out one assist.
Head Coach Brian Kelly was proud of the way his team stayed focused on the gameplan, specifically late into the contest. “Our shooters were really sharp from the perimiter, led by Quinn Lloyd,” Kelly said. “We started very slow defensively, but really settled down in the fourth quarter when it mattered most.”
Game 2 vs. University of Redlands (7-12)
In the night contest, the Gaels fell into an early hole and couldn’t recover, as they were defeated by the University of Redlands Bulldogs 12-7.
Senior Matthew Rothman put the Gaels ahead 27 seconds into the contest to give the Gaels a 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs attack was too much for the Maroon and Gold to handle, as they scored a trio of goals to give themselves a 3-1 lead after the first eight minutes.
The Bulldogs scored the first three goals of the second quarter before Rothman tallied his second of the game and fourth of the day to cut the deficit to 6-2 at halftime.
The Maroon and Gold conceded the opening two goals in the third quarter, as the Gaels trailed 8-2 with 3:28 remaining in the third period. Sophomore Spencer Anthony tallied his second goal of the season to trim the deficit to five, 8-3. After a Bulldogs score, junior Marc Stauble tallied his first of the game and third on the day. Redlands tallied two more to put the score at 11-4 in favor of the Bulldogs at the conclusion of the third quarter.
Iona outscored Redlands 3-1 in the fourth quarter. Roper, Andres Guerra, and sophomore Jason Hill each found the back of the net before the clock hit zero.
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Iona concludes the Gary Troyer Tournament tomorrow with matchups against Fresno Pacific (11:00am EST) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6:30pm EST).