Igor Mladenovic

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- The St. Francis (N.Y.) Terriers pulled away from the Iona Gaels late in the third quarter and went on to defeat their local rivals, 14-7, in Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Northern Division competition in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The #20 ranked Terriers evened their record at 7-7, including a league-best 3-0 mark in the Northern Division, while the Gaels fell to 5-8, 1-2 in the Northern Division.

Freshman Vuk Vujosevic paced the Terriers with his first career hat-trick and Filip Sasic, Marko Gencic and Tamas Toth each added a pair.

St. Francis never trailed in the match but Iona was within just a goal, 7-6, after Cameron Hudson beat Terriers' goaltender Igor Mladenovic with 3:09 remaining in the third period. However, St. Francis scored three straight goals to close out the quarter and took a commanding 10-6 advantage heading into the final stanza. Vujosevic opened the run with his second goal of the match and Marko Dzigurski and Nemanja Simonovic capped the scoring.

Hudson put a temporary stop to the bleeding with a tally early in the fourth quarter to make it 10-7 but the Gaels could not slip another attempt past Mladenovic the rest of the way. The Terriers scored four unanswered goals to double up Iona's final scoring total.

In the second quarter, Iona's Jake Lloyd evened the game at 3-3 with 4:48 remaining in the half but Sasic scored two goals in the final 2:07 to give the Terriers the lead for good.

Mladenovic was sensational as he made 17 saves, including six in the final period. Stefen Hill recorded 12 saves for the Gaels.

Hudson paced Iona with three goals and Matthew Steinicki and Lloyd also contributed a pair.

Seven Terriers' seniors were honored in their final home game prior to the match.

Release courtesy St. Francis Athletic Communications