NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Sebastiano Figari capped off a four-goal and two assist evening with the deciding factor at the 29 seconds mark of a sudden victory overtime period as the Long Island University Sharks fished out a 14-13 defeat of host Iona University in Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) competition at Hynes Pool.
LIU, which was outshot 42-31 by the Gaels and had a 21-17 disadvantage in man-up opportunities overcame an 8-7 deficit at the conclusion of the third quarter to rally back and stun Iona.
Down by a goal to start the fourth quarter, the Sharks struck with back-to-back even-strength tallies by Figari (4:24) and Francisco de Zengotita Rodriguez (3:03) to flip the scoreboard in their favor at 9-8. Hugh Coyle answered for the Gaels with a man-up marker (2:31) before de Zengotita Rodriguez cashed in a power-play opportunity with 11 seconds left on the clock to put LIU back in front at 10-9 and apparently on the road to victory.
The path to a regulation win, however, hit a speed-bump as Toni Vlasic hammered home an equalizer with one second left in the fourth quarter to square the squads at 10-all and force overtime.
In the first OT period, Daniel Raz placed Iona back in front by spinning in a shot with 2:37 on the clock. Oliver Knoflick (2:14, man-up) balanced the scoreboard at 11-all before Ryan Tannus (1:48, man-up) cut loose to return the Gaels to the lead at 12-11 heading into the second OT frame.
Figari (2:18) and Charlie Harbour (1:53) stroked in natural tallies for Long Island and Iona to even the damage and push the Gaels back in front 13-12, respectively, prior to Edward Carpenter nailing the tying score for the Sharks with 14 seconds left to once again knot the game at 13-all.
Both teams had their chances in sudden death as Iona’s Christian Couch (1:50) and Figuari (1:11) were excluded to provide man-up bids. However, an exclusion to Samson Williams (40 seconds) proved to be key to LIU’s win as Figari cashed in the six-one-five chance with 29 seconds left until the commencement of another sudden death period to send the Sharks back to Brooklyn with a one-score victory.
The game was a close affair from the opening sprint of the first quarter to Figari’s terminal blow in extra time.
Jack French (3:31, man-up; six seconds, man-up) and Couch (1:17) started the scoring in the first quarter as both teams both the cage late in the first quarter to allow LIU to exit the opening eight minutes with a 2-1 margin.
Lucas Ramirez (7:19) expanded the lead to 3-1 41 seconds into the second quarter prior to Harbour (6:54, man-up) rattling home a response to pull Iona back to within a goal at 3-2. Dylan Rothenberg (3:09) and Figari (27 seconds) widened the gap to 5-2 before Pavle Musikic (one second, man-up) foreshadowed Vlasic’s buzzer-beater to end the fourth quarter by besting the horn to shrink the Gaels’ deficit to 5-3 entering halftime.
Iona pulled even with 4:44 remaining in the third quarter as Brett Grady (7:34) and Ryan Tannus (4:44, man-up) put away scoring opportunities to balance the scoreboard at five-all. Thomaz Figueiredo put Long Island back in front via a man-up marker (4:19) prior to Harbour (2:48), Tannus (2:00) and Musikic (51 seconds, penalty shot) flipping the script with back-to-back-to-back strikes in staking Iona to an 8-6 margin. Mark Malamud (11 seconds) chipped a goal off the Sharks’ deficit prior to the termination of the third quarter to inch LIU within one at 8-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
Tannus (three goals, two assists, two steals), Harbour (three goals, three steals, one field block), Musikic (two goals, one steal, nine drawn exclusions), Grady (one goal, five assists, three steals, two field blocks), Coyle (one goal, two assists), Raz (one goal), Couch (one goal), Vlasic (one goal), Logan Hardel (one assist) and Jack Robison (one steal) factored for Iona in the loss with goalkeeper PJ Bartzen making seven saves with four steals.
Figuri (four goals, two assists, two ejections drawn) led the Long Island offense with Figueiredo (one goal, six assists, one drawn exclusion, three steals, three field blocks), de Zengotita Rodriguez (two goals, four drawn exclusions), French (two goals, two assists, one drawn exclusion, two steals, one field block), Knoflick (one goal, one drawn exclusion), Carpenter (one goal, one drawn exclusion), Rothenberg (one goal), Malamud (one goal, one steal), Ramirez (one goal, nine drawn exclusions, two steals, one field block), Anthony Gauna (one assist) and Gavin Goode (one assist, one drawn exclusion) making the difference in the win by goalkeeper Llewyn Thurston (12 saves, three steals).
