NEW ROCHELLE, NY - Salem International had seven different goal scorers, including four from freshman Milos Popovic but it wouldn't be enough as the Tigers dropped a 19-15 decision to Iona College on Sunday morning (Oct. 30) in men's collegiate water polo action.

The Tigers (7-13) will travel to Erie, Pennsylvania on Saturday, November 5 as they face Monmouth College in the MWPC Western Region Championships. The Tigers will look to advance to the MWPC Championships which will be hosted by Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, November 18-20.

Iona (9-16) scored four unanswered goals after falling behind 2-1 to hold a 5-2 advantage over the Tigers after the first quarter of action on Sunday. Marc Stauble would account for two of the Gaels scores, while goalkeeper Jorge Andres Torres made five saves in net and assisted on one goal for Iona.

Salem International would respond with the first score of the second quarter as freshman Robert Juhas cut the deficit to 5-3 at the 7:23 mark. Juhas tallied his second goal of the quarter with 2:51 left to trim the Gaels lead to 8-6. Sophomore David Roake would put the Tigers on his back in the final 1;25 of the quarter, scoring a pair of goals 75-seconds apart to bring SIU within a goal at 9-8. Iona would take a 10-9 lead into the intermission after two quarters of play.

The Gaels would up their advantage to 14-12 after an evenly played third quarter. Iona's Lloyd Quinn would score two of his four goals on the day in the quarter to lead his squad offensively. Popovic would match the play of Quinn, scoring two goals of his own to pace the Tigers.

Searching for a strong start to the fourth quarter, the Tigers would have to weather three consecutive goals from the Gaels, who extended their lead to 17-12. Sophomore Inigo Velasco would get things back on track for SIU with 5:00 remaining in the fourth quarter as his score pulled the Tigers back within four goals. Popovic tallied the final score of the match for either team with 37 seconds remaining. His score trimmed the deficit to 19-15 and would lead to the Tigers eventually calling a timeout.

SIU would get one final shot before the buzzer sounded but it would be saved by Torres, who was huge in net for the Gaels.

Sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Perry made three saves in net for Salem International, while junior Manuel Gallegos made one save for the Tigers. Torres recorded 16 saves in net for Iona and registered a pair of assists. Stauble paced the Gaels with five goals and two assists in the contest. Quinn finished with four scores, while teammate Matthew Rothman recorded five points (3G, 2A) for Iona.