NEW ROCHELLE, Ny. – With the offense managing only five goals, the Penn State Behrend men's water polo team fell 17-5 to Iona in tonight's match at Hynes Pool.
Sophomore Andre Sardaryzadeh (Murrieta, CA/Elsinore) tallied two goals and an assist for the Lions (4-10). Troy Valkusky (Drifton, PA/Hazleton), Grant Garcia (Kingsburg, CA/Kingsburg), and Leo Suarez (West Palm Beach, FL/Forest Hill Community) had one goal apiece. The offense made 14 turnovers.
On defense, freshman Matt Olimski (San Diego, CA/Otay Ranch) recorded 13 saves and added one steal. Garcia and Isaak Hatopp (Saline, MI/Saline) both had two steals while Sardaryzadeh and Mark Ercolani (North Wales, PA/North Penn) notched one steal each.
Ion jumped out to a 4-0 in the opening four minutes of the match. At the 2:42 mark, the Gaels hit one more unanswered goal for a 5-0 advantage over the Lions. Valkusky and Garcia scored back-to-back goals 31 seconds apart to bring the game within three. Iona would tally a goal with 32 seconds on the clock to make the score 6-2 at the end of the first.
Just over a minutes into the second quarter, Iona would find the back of the net to increase the lead to 7-2. The Gaels would score two more before Sardaryzadeh ended the scoring streak in the final minute of the half with a goal of his own.
The Lions were unable to tally a goal in the third quarter, getting outscored 3-0 to make the game 12-3 going into the final quarter of the match. The Gaels added three more goals early in the fourth before Sardaryzadeh found his second goal of the contest. Iona responded 20 seconds later with another goal, giving them a 16-4 edge. After the Gaels notched their 17th goal, Suarez ended the scoring in the game to finalize the score 17-5.
Behrend faces La Salle at 10 a.m. and Washington & Jefferson at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in New London, Connecticut.
