#17 Bears Outlast Iona, 12-10, Advancing to Fifth-Place Game

Nov. 17, 2007

Cambridge, MA - The junior trio of Hank Weintraub (Los Angeles, CA), Mike Gartner (San Jose, CA), and Grant LeBeau (San Diego, CA) scored three goals apiece to lead the #17 Brown men's water polo team (20-10) to a 12-10 win over Iona (11-16) at the Eastern Championships at Harvard on Saturday. Weintraub also dished out a game-high three assists to earn Player of the Game honors, as the Bears advanced to the tournament's fifth-place game against Bucknell on Sunday.

The Bears led for most of the contest. Iona's Ed Gronkowski scored 56 seconds into the game on an exclusion to give Iona its only lead, as Weintraub and LeBeau scored to put the Bears up 2-1 with 2:23 left in the opening period. Iona tied it back up as Patrick St. Cin scored one of his game-high four goals with 57 seconds left in the frame, but Brown freshman Corey Schwartz (Los Angeles, CA) scored 15 seconds later on a man-advantage to make it 3-2 at the first break.

The Bears were able to extend their lead in the second period, scoring four times while Iona scored just once. The Gaels got it back to 7-6 on a pair of penalty shots and a man-up goal in the third, but Gartner and freshman Gordon Hood (Carlsbad, CA) scored before the end of the period to extend the Brown lead back to three.

Hood scored his second six-on-five goal of the game to start the fourth, but three straight Iona goals again closed the game to just one at 10-9 with 4:45 left to play. However, Weintraub sunk the game-winner 22 seconds later, with Gartner adding an insurance goal before St. Cin scored his fourth at 1:05 for the final 12-10 score.

Brown sophomore Kent Holland (Orinda, CA) made six saves to pick up the win, while his counterpart for Iona, Eric Konzem, made eight stops.

The Bears try to avenge a 10-6 loss to Bucknell earlier this season on Sunday. Game time is 1:30 p.m.

Iona 2 1 3 4 - 10
#17 Brown 3 4 2 3 - 12
Goals
I, St. Cin 4, Gronkowski 3, Barrow, Velasquez, Przekota; B, Gartner 3, Weintraub 3, LeBeau 3, Hood 2, Schwartz
Assists
I, St. Cin, Velasquez; B, Weintraub 3
Saves
I, Konzem 8; B, Holland 6
Ejections: Iona 11, Brown 9
Sprints: Iona 0, Brown 4