NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — The Iona College men’s water polo team opened its home schedule by notching its third win of the 2021 season with a 14-6 non-conference victory over Connecticut College at Hynes Center Pool.
Junior Lester Machado led the Gaels with four goals on six shots, while senior co-captain Justin Ginsberg hit for three goals on three shots, and sophomore Andrew Miller tallied three goals on four shots. Freshman Luka Nastic scored twice, while junior Mohamed Refaat and sophomore James DiSalle had one goal each. The Gaels scored 14 goals on 28 shots. Iona dished out six assists with two by Machado.
In goal, junior Kyle Laufenberg recorded 12 saves on 14 Connecticut shots with two goals against and had one steal. Sophomore Diego Gomez had nine saves on 13 shots with four goals against and one steal.
On defense, Iona made 16 steals with three each by Refaat and junior Timothy Bergamini and blocked four shots. Iona drew eight Connecticut kickouts with three from Refaat, while being ejected nine times.
The Maroon & Gold turned the ball over six times. Iona scored on one of eight man-up chances, while the Camels did not score on nine chances.
Iona never trailed in the game as Ginsberg put the Gaels on the board with 1:51 gone in the match. Nastic scored his first goal to give the Gaels a 2-0 edge with 5:38 remaining in the first quarter prior to back-to-back markers by Machado – including a five-meter penalty shot – continued a 4-0 Iona run into the second quarter.
With 20 ticks gone in the second quarter, Refaat upped the Iona advantage to 6-0. Two straight Camels scores cut the Iona lead back to four 6-2 with 4:22 remaining in the first half. DiSalle restored Iona’s five-goal advantage at 7-2 just 46 seconds later, followed by Nastic’s second score for a 8-2 Gaels’ edge. Miller tacked on another Iona goal with 17 seconds to go as the home squad led 9-2 at halftime.
Machado’s fourth score continued a 4-0 Gael run for a 10-2 lead with 5:29 left in the third quarter. After the Camels cut the home lead back to seven 10-3 on their next trip down the pool, Ginsberg put the Gaels back by eight 11-3 with 3:01 to go. With 2:04 remaining, Connecticut got back within seven at 11-4 going into the final quarter of regulation.
Ginsberg’s third goal just 1:39 into the fourth quarter gave Iona eight-goal edge at 12-4, but Connecticut answered with 5:53 left to slice the home edge back to seven (12-5). Two more Miller goals gave Iona a 14-5 lead at the 2:07 mark, but the Camels answered with 37 seconds remaining for the 14-6 final score.
Ginsberg expressed the team’s gratitude to a lively home crowd cheering on the victory as the Gaels head into their conference schedule.
“We were very excited to play one at home after a long time of not playing here,” Ginsberg said. “We had a great crowd. We’re looking forward to continuing our home success as we move into our conference play.”
Release courtesy Iona College Athletics Communications
