NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona College men’s water polo team (7-12, 1-4) dropped a pair of contests agianst Fresno Pacific 11-9 and host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 15-11 at the Gary Troyer Tournament in Claremont, CA.
Game 1 vs. Fresno Pacific (9-11)
A pair of hat tricks from junior Zach Roper and senior Hudson Grieve was not enough for the Gaels to take down the Sunbirds of Fresno Pacific, falling 11-9 at Axelrod Pool in Claremont, California. Freshman Jorge Andres Torres made six saves in net.
Fresno Pacific scored the first goal of the match 58 ticks into the match to give the Sunbirds a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Andres Guerra was ejected thirty seconds later, which led to another Sunbirds tally. With 5:48 remaining in the quarter, the Sunbirds found the back of the net, giving themselves a three goal lead. Roper stopped the run with a goal of his own to trim the deficit to 3-1. The Sunbirds closed out the quarter with an added tally to lead 4-1 at the conclusion of the period.
Just as the game started to get away from the Gaels, giving up a goal with 1:07 into the contest, Iona did not go quietly, scoring the next three. Junior Marc Stauble tallied his first of the contest, followed by a pair from Grieve, cutting the deficit to only one, 5-4. The Sunbirds stopped the run with 2:55 remaining, before the Gaels struck back on their final possesion. Freshman Quinn Lloyd’s tally with 22 ticks left put the score at 6-5 after 16 minutes of play.
The third quarter began with the teams trading goals, the latter by Roper. The Sunbirds scored the next two following ejections from the Maroon and Gold, putting the score at 9-6. The Gaels trailed Fresno Pacific 11-7 at the conclusion of the third period. Lloyd tallied the final Iona goal.
The Gaels clamped down defensively in the fourth quarter, holding the Sunbirds scoreless. However, the Maroon and Gold scored with 4:18 remaining on a strike from Roper. Grieve’s hat trick goal put the score at 11-9. Fresno Pacific held stopped the Gaels for the remainder of the contest, picking up the two goal victory.
Game 2 vs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (11-15)
The Gaels’ defense was not strong enough to stop the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps offense, falling to the Stags 15-11. Rothman led the Gaels offensively with four goals. Marc Stauble, Hudson Grieve and Zach Roper tallied two goals apiece. Freshman Jorge Andres Torres started in goal, making seven saves.
The Maroon and Gold held strong early, taking a 4-3 lead after the first eight minutes of play. The Stags scored 48 seconds into the contest before Stauble knotted the score at 1-1 27 seconds later. A pair of goals by senior Matthew Rothman gave the Maroon and Gold a quick 3-1 lead. The teams traded goals, with the second coming from freshman Quinn Lloyd. The stags got one back with 16 ticks left to pull themselves within one.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps opened up the second quarter with two goals to give themeslves their first lead of the game, 5-4. Roper haulted the rally with a strike of his own, followed by Rothman’s second goal of the game, putting the Gaels back on top 6-5. The score would hold as the second horn sounded.
After CMS knotted the score 39 seconds into the third quarter, Grieve put the Gaels back ahead with a goal of his own. Two more goals by the Stags was followed by a strike by Stauble, knotting the score at 8-8. The Maroon and Gold were looking at a tie score heading into the fourth quarter, but conceded two goals in the final 55 seconds to find themselves down 10-8 at the end of the frame.
The Stags put the score at 11-8 two minutes into the fourth quarter. Iona cut the deficit to a pair with a goal from Rothman. The Stags rallied with two goals shortly thereafter to put the score at 13-9 in favor of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The Maroon and Gold scored the next two with strikes from Roper and Grieve, to put the Gaels right back in it, 13-11. The Gaels could not muster any offense for the remainer of the contest, conceding two goals and being held off the scoreboard.
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Next Saturday, the Gaels will travel east to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to take on three non-conference foes in the Harvard Invitational. The Maroon and Gold will compete in an exhibition match against New York AC, as well as contests with Wagner and Bucknell.