After closing out the Princeton Invitational with an overtime victory, the men’s water polo team traveled to Annapolis, Md to take part in the CWPA North-South Crossover on Sept. 17 and Sept. 18.

To start off the tournament, Iona faced its first nationally ranked opponent of the season in No. 14 Princeton. 

After a close first quarter, Princeton came out firing in the second quarter, finding the net seven times to give the Tigers a 9-4 lead.  In the second half, Princeton scored six more times and beat the Gaels 15-4.

In the second game of the tournament, the Gaels faced a familiar foe in Johns Hopkins. Johns Hopkins had defeated Iona twice this season already and the third match between the two proved to be no different.

Despite having a lead going into the fourth quarter, the Gaels conceded five consecutive goals in a 16-11 loss.

In the loss, freshman Jake Lloyd continued his fantastic debut season with five goals and an assist, while freshman Tyler Mancuso and sophomore Lee Stiles each contributed two goals apiece in the loss.

Following the first day of the tournament, Head Coach Brian Kelly said, “We were our own worst enemies in this game with so many turnovers. We will not be successful this season unless we fix these problems.”

On the second day of the Crossover, Iona faced their second ranked opponent in as many days when they faced No. 16 Bucknell.

During their match against Bucknell, the Gaels played the Bison close, but a poor fourth quarter gave Iona its third straight defeat.

Overall, Iona was led by junior Kristian Bocage’s four goals and another two-goal effort by Stiles.

In its final match of the Crossover, Iona faced Mercyhurst.  With a lead in the final minute, it looked like the Gaels were going to get their first win of Crossover, but Mercyhurst tied the match with only two seconds remaining to force overtime.

A goal by Mancuso with only 10 seconds remaining gave Iona their second 11-10 victory in overtime in two weeks and ended the Gaels’ three-game losing streak.

Once again, Lloyd put together a fantastic performance, scoring a hat trick while also providing an assist.  Other notable performances included two goals from freshman Ian Thompson and a three-point effort from Bocage.

Following the Crossover, the Maroon and Gold found themselves inside of the top ten for the CWPA for the first time this season taking ninth overall.

To close out the week, Iona played two of its three matches at the Hynes Athletic pool against Harvard and MIT on Sept. 24.

In the first match of the doubleheader, Iona was able to win 13-4 over Harvard.

The Gaels were led by a four-goal performance by senior Cameron Hudson, a hat trick by Lloyd and goals from four other players. In goal, sophomore Stefen Hill was fantastic, making eight saves in the huge win.

Bocage said, “We played a great game, we minimized our mistakes and turnovers and converted our chances. It was such a great confidence boost to win like