The Iona College men’s water polo team finished 12th in the College Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship held at Brown University over the weekend of Nov. 22-24.

On Friday, the Gaels lost to the sixth seed Princeton University 16-12, and Saturday, they fell to seventh seed Mercyhurst 12-11 in sudden death overtime. On Sunday, Iona dropped its third game of the tournament, to rival Fordham 11-6.

Junior Jake Lloyd netted a team-high seven goals and was named to second-team All-Tournament. Senior co-captain Bryan Driscoll finished with five goals in the tournament.

“We were really prepared for the tournament, especially all the seniors who wanted to really step up our level of play for our last chance at NCAA’s,” Driscoll said. “The results don’t really do us justice; we fought hard through every game and played with some of the best teams in the east coast.”

In the first game, against Princeton University, the Gaels were up 7-4 at halftime. In the second half, the Maroon & Gold were not able to keep up with the Tigers’ offense, giving up 12 goals. Driscoll and Lloyd tallied three goals each; senior Sean Davis and sophomore Zach Presto added two apiece. Freshman Chris Ellis and junior Ian Thompson each netted one.

The following afternoon, the Gaels faced off with the Mercyhurst Lakers. Iona was down 6-1 with two minutes left in the first half. The Gaels netted two to bring the score to 6-3 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Maroon & Gold’s offense scored five goals and brought the game to an 8-8 tie going into the fourth quarter. Mercyhurst scored the first two goals of the quarter to gain a two-goal advantage. After a goal by Lloyd, Thompson put one in the net with 25 seconds left to tie the score at 10 and force overtime.

In the first overtime period, neither team scored. In the second period, Lloyd found the net to give Iona an 11-10 advantage, but the Lakers scored with 52 seconds left to tie the game and bring the two teams to a sudden death overtime period. On a power play opportunity, Mercyhurst scored and won 12-11.

Lloyd was the leading scorer for the Gaels with four goals. Senior Matthew Stelnicki and junior James Ramaley scored two apiece, and Davis, Driscoll and Thompson each netted one goal.

In the last game for the Gaels in the CWPA Championship, Iona competed against Fordham. Despite trailing by only a single goal at halftime (5-4), the Gaels lost 11-6. The Maroon & Gold were held scoreless the final 9:21 of the match. Davis and senior Lee Stiles had two goals apiece, while Driscoll and freshman Gerardo Sanchez Rivera each had one.

For the team’s six seniors, the CWPA Championship concluded their collegiate careers.

“I’m sad that my career at Iona is finished, but excited to see my teammates excel next year,” Driscoll said.