No. 3 Seed Men’s Water Polo Tops No. 6 Iona at NWPC Championship, 13-11

Friday, November 22

Cambridge, MA / MIT

4:00 PM

Brown University

Iona College

No. 3 Seed Men’s Water Polo Tops No. 6 Iona at NWPC Championship, 13-11

11/22/2019 9:50:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Results

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Senior James Thygesen and freshman Cole Atwell each tallied hat tricks as No. 3 seed Brown University men's water polo topped No. 6 seed Iona College, 13-11, in the first round of the 2019 NWPC Championship on Friday afternoon at MIT's Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center.

The No. 19 nationally ranked Bears (21-11) gained leads of 4-2 at the end of the first quarter, 8-6 at halftime, and 12-9 at the close of the third quarter on their way to the victory over the Gaels (6-22).

"This time of year is all about finding a way to advance," Brown head coach Felix Mercado said. "We found a way to do that today and now have to start getting ready to play Princeton tomorrow."

Continuing its ninth 20-win season in the last 10 years, Brown will play No. 2 seed and No. 19 ranked Princeton (15-14) in the semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 5:00 p.m. The two teams entered the weekend tied in the national rankings.

The 2019 NWPC Rookie of the Year, Atwell (San Diego, Calif.) posted three goals, an assist, and three steals while Thygesen (Menlo Park, Calif.) finished with three goals, two assists, and two ejections drawn.

Freshman Nick Berry (San Anselmo, Calif.) tallied a goal, two assists, a steal, and two field blocks while senior Armen Deirmenjian (Beverly Hills, Calif.) notched a goal, an assist, and three ejections drawn.

Sophomore Matt Simko (Coral Gables, Fla.) posted a goal and three ejections drawn, and juniors Adam Fuller (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Aidan Reilly (Los Angeles, Calif.) and sophomores Gabe Kaplan (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Andrew Penner (Atherton, Calif.) each netted one goal. Freshman Leo Berkman (Orinda, Calif.) contributed three assists and three ejections drawn.

In the cage, junior goalkeeper Riad Hallal (Coronado, Calif.) made five saves in the first half, and sophomore goalie Ugo Piovan (Vouliagmeni, Greece) stopped four shots in the second half.

After Iona scored the game's first goal, Brown used a 3-0 run behind tallies from Penner, Reilly, and Simko to take a 3-1 lead. A goal from Thygesen staked Brown to a 4-2 edge at the end of the first quarter.

Deirmenjian and Berry netted the first two goals of the second quarter, pushing Brown ahead 6-2. Back-to-back goals from Fuller and Kaplan extended the advantage to 8-3. The Gaels closed the half on a 3-0 run, making the score 8-6 at the break.

Two goals from Thygesen early in the third quarter kept Brown up 10-7. Then two tallies from Atwell over the remainder of the frame allowed the Bears to remain in the lead, 12-9.

Atwell netted the Bears only goal of the fourth quarter, and the Brown defense blanked Iona over the final 4:53. Brown improved to 3-0 on the season against the Gaels.

Brown 13, Iona 11
Brown....................... 4…4…4…1…13
Iona........................... 2…4…3…2…11
Brown Goals: Atwell 3, Thygesen 3, Berry, Deirmenjian, Fuller, Kaplan, Penner, Reilly, Simko.
Brown Saves: Hallal 5, Piovan 4.