Stags beat Iona for second win in Thursday thriller

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team beat Iona College 14-12 in their first home game and for their second win on the season. Sophomore Eric Bakar was a big contributor and led the team with six goals.

The Stags got off to a slow start but then went ahead by the end of the first quarter. Iona took 2-0 lead but Bakar tied up the game with two quick goals. Bakar would score once more to give the Stags a 5-3 lead to start the second quarter.

The second quarter the lowest scoring period of the game. CMS goalkeeper James Kelly recorded six saves, just in the period, while the shots CMS was taking were repeatedly blocked by the Iona defense.

The third quarter saw more scoring for both teams. Each time the Stags took a small lead, Iona surged back to tie it up resulting in a 10-10 tie at the end of the period. McClatchy Ruskin and Bakar each had two goals in the quarter and Noah Deer added the fifth. There was a scuffle in front of the goal late in the quarter and when Kelly could not get a hand on it, Peter Tilton snatched the ball away to save a goal that would have tied the game at 8-8.

The Stags defense made the difference in the final period. Two goals by Ruskin and Bakar gave the Stags a small cushion and this time, it was enough. Kelly had another four saves in the period and his defense kept the Gaels at bay. Adam Hilborn scored the final goal for CMS for a final score of 14-12.

CMS is one of the hosts for the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament Oct. 3-4. In the tournament, the Stags play George Washington (12:40 p.m.) and Fresno Pacific (6 p.m.) on Friday and Johns Hopkins (11:20 a.m.) on Saturday.                                   

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