NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Playing three straight overtime games this week, the Iona College men’s water polo team dropped two one-point North East Water Polo Conference (NWPC) matches this afternoon at Hynes Pool by falling 14-13 to Division III No. 1-ranked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and 13-12 to No. 14 Brown University.
In a four-overtime thriller with seven ties, the Iona men’s water polo team dropped their second extra-period game in four days in a 14-13 loss to MIT in the early game. The team previously fell to No. 16 St. Francis College Brooklyn by a 14-12 score in overtime on September 27.
Senior co-captain Zach Roper led the Gaels with three goals, and seniors Andrew Judge and Patrick Judge, and sophomore Quinn Lloyd had two goals each. Senior co-captain Matt Rothman, juniors Spencer Anthony and Jason Hill and freshman Patrick Hudak made one goal apiece. The Gaels recorded 10 assists with four from Rothman and three more by Lloyd.
Sophomore goalkeeper Jorge Andres Torres had three saves on 19 MIT shots, three steals and allowed 11 goals, and Sebastian Van Reeken made seven saves on 22 shots with one steal and allowed three goals.
On defense, the Gaels made 14 steals with three each from Patrick Judge and Hudak, and blocked four MIT shots. Iona drew nine MIT kickouts, while being ejected 15 times with Andrew Judge and Roper being disqualified with three. Iona had 23 turnovers. The Gaels scored on five of ten man-up opportunities, while the Engineers scored on five of eight.
MIT took an early 2-0 lead on two unanswered goals, including a five-meter penalty shot, in the opening 1:14, but two Iona goals from Andrew Judge and Rothman tied the match at two with 5:49 to go in the first quarter. The visitors hit three consecutive scores for a 5-2 advantage with 4:20 left, then Roper’s two straight goals put the Gaels within one 5-4 less than a minute later. The Engineers tacked on two more straight goals in the closing 2:12 to lead 7-4 going into the second quarter.
With 1:54 gone in the second period, Patrick Judge pulled Iona within two 7-5, but MIT’s five-meter penalty score put the Engineers back up three 8-5 with 3:39 on the clock. Hill narrowed the visitors edge to two 8-6 with 2:02 on the clock. After Iona head coach Brian Kelly called timeout with 18 ticks left, Quinn struck on a 6-5 chance to trim the visitor’s advantage to one 8-7 at intermission. After the halftime buzzer, senior Jonathan Hulbert and a MIT player were disqualified for misconduct.
The Gaels tied the game at eight when Patrick Judge capitalized on a 6-5 advantage with 36 seconds gone in the third period. The Engineers broke the tie 9-8 on their own 6-5 edge with 5:27 on the clock. Coming off the bench, Anthony evened the match at nine at the 4:04. But the visitors answered with two goals in the closing minute for a 11-9 lead, then Roper struck with eight seconds left in the third period.
There were no goals at either end of the pool in the fourth period until Patrick Judge knotted the match for the fourth time 11-11 with 2:43 gone. MIT regained the lead 12-11 on its only goal of the quarter with 1:26 remaining in regulation, but Lloyd’s goal ten ticks later evened the match at twelve to force overtime.
In the first overtime, neither squad managed to score, as the 12-12 tie continued into the second overtime. Forty-three seconds into the second overtime, MIT went back up 13-12, but Hudak’s goal forced the match’s seventh tie 13 all with 1:20 remaining. After calling timeout with 33 seconds left, Iona failed on two chances to score, including one shot at 4/10 of a second on the clock.
Despite several near-miss shots in the first sudden-death overtime, neither squad could hit the back of the net for the win. With 16.11 seconds left in the second sudden-death, MIT pulled out a 14-13 victory.
Just four hours after four quarters and four overtimes against MIT, Iona lost another overtime match 13-12 to Brown after leading until one second left in regulation.
Lloyd led the Gaels with four goals, while Roper and Hudak scored three each. Patrick Judge and Andrew Judge had one score apiece. The Gaels notched nine assists with four by Andrew Judge.
Torres made seven saves on 20 Brown shots, three steals and allowed nine goals, and Van Reeken made ten saves on 14 shots, two steals and allowed four goals.
On defense, the Gaels made 21 steals with four each by Lloyd and Andrew Judge, and blocked five shots with three by Lloyd. Iona drew nine Brown kickouts, while being ejected 13 times. Hulbert was disqualified with three ejections and Van Reeken was red-carded from the bench. Iona scored on five of nine man-up opportunities, and Brown made two of eleven.
Lloyd needed only 20 seconds to put Iona on the board 1-0 during the Gaels first possession. Two minutes later, Lloyd’s second goal on a man-up advantage gave Iona 2-0 lead. The Gael offense continued to flourish with its third consecutive goal by Hudak to go up 3-0 with 4:50 to go in the opening period.
On their first second-quarter possession, Brown scored its first goal of the match 15 seconds into the second quarter. But Hudak answered to put Iona up 4-1 with 6:49 to go.
Brown pulled with two 4-2 after a steal at the 5:07 mark. After Kelly called a timeout, Roper scored on a six-on-five advantage to give Iona a three-goal edge at 5-2 with 2:23 remaining. With six seconds left in the quarter, Lloyd hit his third score on another man-up chance for a 6-2 Iona halftime lead.
With 1:29 gone in the third quarter, Brown trimmed the Iona lead to 6-3 on a man-up goal, then scored on its next possession to pull within two 6-4. The Bears got within one 6-5 with 1:56 left when Hudak’s third goal ended the Gaels scoring drought. After the visitors scored on their next possession, Roper’s second score put Iona back up by two 8-6 with 46 ticks left in the third quarter.
Quinn’s fourth score on the Gaels first fourth-quarter possession put Iona up three 9-6 just 53 seconds into the period. Brown answered on its next trip down the pool, but Patrick Judge restored the Gaels three-goal edge 10-7 with 5:38 on the clock. With 3:59 left, Brown hit a five-meter penalty shot, then scored on a breakaway to trim Iona’s lead to one with 3:16 to go. Following a Gaels’ timeout, Andrew Judge gave Iona a two-goal lead 11-9 on a man-up chance with 1:49 on the clock. Forty-five seconds later Brown pulled back within one 11-10. Despite an Iona stall in the final seconds, Brown tied the match at eleven with one second on the clock to force overtime.
Brown took the lead for the first time 12-11 with 1:29 gone in the first overtime, then Roper’s third score retied the game at 12 five seconds later. In the second overtime, the Gaels failed to score as the Bears took win on a single goal with 1:18 left.
Release courtesy Iona College Athletics Communications
