California was not a favorable place for the Iona College men’s water polo team. The Gaels dropped five of their six contests on the west coast.

On the first day out, the Gaels traveled to Riverside, California to play the Cal Baptist Lancers. Despite a 2-0 lead in the first quarter, the Lancers were able to rally and finish with a 13-12 victory. Later that evening the Gaels traveled to Whittier College to match up against the Poets under the lights. Whittier came out strong building a 5-2 lead by half time. The Gaels were able to make a run but were not able to complete the comeback and fell 11-8.

For the day, junior Jake Lloyd scored five goals, classmate Ian Thompson had four and sophomore Zach Presto also scored four. Senior Matt Stelnicki scored three goals, junior Jimmy Ramaley tallied two and senior Sean Davis and junior Kyle Elmore tallied one a piece. Senior Stefen Hill had 11 saves against Cal Baptist.

The Gaels opened up the Gary Troyer Tournament on Oct. 4 against Cal Lutheran, and Iona held a 8-5 lead going into the fourth quarter. Cal Lutheran came back however, and tied the game 10-10 at the end of the fourth forcing overtime. The Kingsmen scored one minute into the first overtime and the Gaels missed several opportunities to tie it up as Cal Lutheran prevailed 11-10. Ramaley and Lloyd led the Gaels with two goals each.

The Gaels played their second game of the day against Concordia University, the 16th ranked team in the country. The Maroon & Gold were able to produce offense but unable to slow down the Eagles’ attack, falling 19-10. Lloyd led with four goals and freshman Elerick Curet was able to score his first goal of the season.

On the following day the Gaels grabbed a win over California Tech 19-7. Iona came out slow only building a 6-3 halftime lead, but exploded for 13 goals in the second half to blow out the Beavers. Lloyd led in goals again with six, Stelnicki added three and several others were able to tally one, including junior Eric Corely for his first goal of the year.

In the final game of the tournament, Iona played Loyola Marymount, who was ranked No.10 in the country. The Gaels had some impressive goals but were overpowered by the Lions’ offense and fell 19-9. Lloyd led with four goals and Davis scored three.

Davis was pleased with the team’s progress in California despite the losing record.

“The California trip was overall a positive trip. We had some tough losses, but overall, we played well and continue to improve as a team,” Davis said.

The Gaels continued Northern Division league play with Brown University on Oct. 12. The Maroon & Gold fell 16-5.

Iona was scheduled to play St. Francis (N.Y.) on Oct. 16. The result was not available for press time. The Gaels host Fordham University in their final home game of the season on Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m.