NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — After opening a four-game weekend with a 19-7 Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) win over Connecticut College, the Iona College men’s water polo team dropped a last-second 13-12 Senior Day home game to Division III No. 5-ranked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Prior to the game, the Gaels honored graduating seniors and co-captains Michael Feeley and Justin Ginsberg.
Leading the entire match, Iona defeated Connecticut College, 19-7, for the second time in two weeks.
Sophomore Andrew Miller led Iona with five goals on six shots. Junior Lester Machado and freshman Luksa Vlasic had three goals each, while junior Mohamed Refaat, sophomore James DiSalle and freshman William Harrington all scored twice. Senior co-captain Michael Feeley and freshman Edward Howaniec each had one goal. The Gaels scored 19 goals on 32 shots and had eight assists with two each from senior co-captain Justin Ginsberg and Vlasic.
In goal, junior Kyle Laufenberg made five saves on 17 Connecticut shots and one assist with four goals against in the first half. Sophomore Diego Gomez had 15 saves on 21 shots and one assist with three goals against.
On defense, Iona made eight steals with two each from Ginsberg and Vlasic and blocked two shots. Iona drew ten Connecticut kickouts with three by Feeley, while being ejected seven times. The Gaels turned the ball over eight times. Iona scored on two of ten man-up chances, while the Camels did not score on seven chances.
Vlasic needed only 28 seconds to put Iona on the board first, followed by Machado 1:01 later for a 2-0 Gael lead with 5:29 gone in the match. Two straight Iona goals by Refaat and Miller put the Gaels up four 4-0 with 3:10 left. The Camels scored with 2:03 on the clock to trim Iona’s edge back to three going into the second quarter.
The Gaels opened the second quarter with two unanswered scores from Feeley and Vlasic to go up five 6-1 at the 6:20 mark. After a Camels goal at 4:53, Miller’s second and third scores gave the Maroon and Gold a six-goal edge 8-2 with 3:52 remaining. Connecticut hit two straight goals to cut the Iona advantage to four 8-4 with 1:06 left.
Miller answered with two more scores along with Vlasic’s second goal with :05 remaining as Iona led 11-4 at halftime. Machado’s second score sparked a 4-0 run with goals from Refaat, Machado and DiSalle as Iona mounted an eleven-goal cushion 15-4 with 3:50 on the clock. Following another Camels goal 42 seconds later, Harrington’s first Gaels’ goal with 1.9 seconds remaining restored Iona’s lead to eleven 16-5 going into the final eight minutes of regulation.
After Harrington’s second goal 34 seconds into the fourth period, Connecticut scored twice to trim the home edge back to ten 17-7 with 6:04 left. DiSalle’s second score on the Gaels next trip down the pool put Iona back-up eleven 18-7. After Howaniec’s first Iona goal with 28 ticks left, Connecticut hit a five-meter penalty goal with four seconds on the clock in Iona’s 19-7 win.
After giving up ten goals in the first half versus MIT, Iona held the Engineers to three scores in the second half, but a fourth-quarter game-tying rally fell short with a last-second Engineers’ goal which resulted in a 13-12 Gaels’ loss. Vlasic led the Gaels with five goals on nine shots, while Machado scored four goals on five shots. Ginsberg, Rafaat and Miller had one goal each. Iona scored 12 goals on 35 shots and made six assists with two each from Ginsberg and freshman Trippe Bauman.
In goal, junior Kyle Laufenberg made eight saves on 21 MIT shots and two steals with 11 goals against. Sophomore Diego Gomez had three saves on five shots and one three steals with two goals against. On defense, Iona made six steals with three each from Machado and Refaat and blocked two shots. Iona drew 15 MIT kickouts with three by Refaat, while being ejected ten times. Ginsberg was disqualified with three ejections. The Gaels turned the ball over five times. Iona scored on two of 14 man-up chances, while the Engineers did not score on 10 chances.
With 39 seconds gone in the match, Ginsberg put Iona on the board first, but MIT took off on a 3-0 run to lead 3-1 at 4:28 left in the opening period. Vlasic’s man-up goal 22 ticks later pulled Iona with one 3-2. MIT answered to regain a two-goal lead 4-2, then Machado scored on a 6-5 advantage to cut the visitors lead back to one 4-3 with 2:39 on the clock. After MIT scored a five-meter penalty goal, Refaat found the back of the net on the Gaels next trip down the pool to narrow the gap to one 5-4 with 2:14 remaining. Despite Laufenberg stopping a five-meter penalty shot, the Engineers closed the opening quarter with a 3-0 run to lead 8-4.
The Gaels opened the second quarter with their own 2-0 run on goals by Vlasic and Machado to cut the Engineers’ edge back to two 8-6 with 5:50 on the clock. MIT scored on its next possession to go back up three 9-6 at the 5:13 mark. Vlasic’s third score got Iona back within two 9-7 with 1:14 left, but MIT answered with five seconds to go for a 10-7 halftime lead.
Neither team scored in the third quarter until Machado hit his third goal on a 6-5 advantage to get the Gaels back with two 10-8 with 2:59 to go. After MIT answered, Miller’s goal brought the Iona fans to their feet as the Gaels narrowed the guests’ lead to two 11-9 just 24 seconds later. With only five ticks left, MIT regained a three-goal edge 12-9 going into the final frame.
With strong defense and goaltending at both ends of the pool, no fourth quarter goals were scored until Machado’s five-meter penalty shot began a 3-0 Gael run with Vlasic’s fourth and fifth goals tying the game at 12 with 23 seconds left. Just as overtime seemed likely, a last-second MIT goal ended the Iona rally.
Despite his squad’s “excellent comeback” in the loss to MIT, Iona head coach Brian Kelly was disappointed with defensive “breakdowns” that allowed the visitors to take an early lead.
“There were far too many breakdowns in our team defense especially in the first half,” Kelly said. “I’m proud of the effort and the excellent comeback, but we need to do a better job of following the game plan especially in the first half.”
Release courtesy Iona College Athletics Communications
