Boston, MA – The Wagner men's water polo team ended the first day of the Harvard Invitational 1-1, defeating Iona 6-5 after falling to Harvard 17-11.
 
Wagner 6 Iona 5
 
The Green & White defeated Iona College 6-5 in their first-ever meeting after holding the Gaels scoreless in the second half. Freshman driver Matthew Miller (San Ramon, CA/California High) drilled four goals to lead the Seahawks offensively.
 
The Iona Gaels controlled the first quarter scoring three unanswered goals to take an early 3-0 lead over the Seahawks. The Maroon & Gold's defense held Wagner off the scoresheet for the rest of the quarter as they entered the second stanza with a three-point advantage.
 
Freshman driver Matthew Miller opened the second quarter with two consecutive goals to bring the Seahawks within one and cut Iona's lead to 3-2. The Gaels drained two more tallies, but junior utility Ciaran Wolohan (Manly, Australia/St. Aloysius/Golden West College) netted a late goal as the Seahawks ended the half trailing by a count of 5-3.
 
The two teams remained scoreless in the third quarter until freshman driver Oscar Nomura (Irvine, CA/Irvine) fired one into the back of the net with 2:42 remaining to end the quarter down 5-4.
 
The Seahawks opened up the first 1:08 of the final stanza with two quick strikes from Miller to give the Green & White its first lead of the game. Neither team would find the back of the net for the remainder of the contest as Wagner prevailed 6-5 over the Iona Gaels behind four goals from Matthew Miller.
 
Wagner 11 Harvard 17
 
The Green & White was defeated by Harvard University for the third time this season by a count of 17-11. Six different Seahawks reached the back of the net and freshman goalie Joseph Ferraro (Newport Beach, CA/Newport Beach) registered 9 saves.

Trailing 12-2 at intermission with goals from freshman utility Mike Ward (Grayslake, IL/Mundelein) and junior utility Ciaran Wolohan, the Seahawks outscored Harvard 9-5 in the second half. 

Freshman driver Matthew Miller netted his lone strike of the contest less than one minute into the third quarter before the Crimson tallied three unanswered markers. However, the Seahawks countered with a 4-0 run behind goals from freshman driver Aaron Leighton (Lake Forest, CA/El Toro), Wolohan, and two from freshman 2-meter guard Danny Rafael (Cooper City, FL/Cooper City). 

Entering the final stanza down by a count of 16-7, the Seahawks outscored the Crimson 4-1 in the final eight minutes of the contest. Freshman driver Oscar Nomura became the sixth Seahawk to score, firing back-to-back markers. His second strike ignited a 3-0 run for the Green & White that was completed with goals from Leighton and Rafael. 
 
The first-year team is now 7-13 with one day left of the Harvard Invitational. Wagner returns to the pool Sunday, October 16 to face Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 11:45 am for the second time this year. The first contest on September 3 proved to be a back-and-forth matchup with MIT winning 14-13.
 
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