NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College men's soccer team cracked the NSCAA National Rankings Top 25 for the first time in program history, it was announced today. After receiving votes in the poll the last three weeks, the Gaels leaped to No. 22 after three convincing wins over conference foes last week.
Iona (11-1-2, 5-0-0 MAAC) picked up 90 votes in the poll standing three behind No. 21 Stanford and 27 ahead of No. 23 UNC-Wilmington. Also on the poll is No. 8 UConn, a squad that the Gaels played to a scoreless tie with earlier this season.
The Maroon & Gold also had another program first this week; earning the top ranking in the North Atlantic region. After seven weeks at No. 2, Iona jumped ahead of No. 14 Monmouth who suffered its first defeat of the season on Sunday at the hands of conference foe Saint Francis (Pa.). The Gaels are 3-0-1 this season against ranked teams in the North Atlantic region but face a huge test this Friday when they take on Loyola (sixth in the region) in Baltimore.
Iona began its 3-0 week last week with a solid 2-0 result at Fairfield on Monday night. It was the first time the Gaels came home with a win on the road against the Stags since 2003. During Thursday's practice, senior F Giovanni Destasio suffered a season-ending leg injury. Despite missing the final two games of the weekend, Destasio still ranks sixth in the nation in goals per game and 12th in points per game. While the Gaels' scoring juggernaut will truly be missed, his teammates picked up the slack as five different players registered goals in Iona's 3-0 win over Manhattan and 2-0 win over Saint Peter's at Mazzella Field.
After Destasio, senior Fernando Liserra is the team's current leading point scorer with three goals and eight assists. He was named the MAAC's Player of the Week after being involved in five of Iona's seven tallies last week. In addition to Liserra, junior Mario Rios (1g, 4a) - one of the most talented ball handlers in the Northeast - and rookies Alvaro Torrecilla and Mario Di Miceli will all be counted on to play big offensive roles down the stretch.
A staple of Iona's success this season has been their stellar all-around defensive play from the fowards all the way through the back. Anchored by senior GK Nils Binstock's eight shut outs and 0.62 GAA, seniors Mario Aceto and Alex Haxhari, sophomore Roberto Hernandez-Raaen and freshman Robbie Krohmer have formed a tremendous back line of a stingy defense that has allowed just nine goals in 14 games this year.
Nationally, the Gaels rank fourth in winning percentage (.857) with only Akron (15-0), Monmouth (13-1-1) and Butler (10-1-1) ahead of them. The Squad is also 11th in shutout percentage (57.0%), 13th in save percentage (86.4%), 14th in goals against average (0.62 GAA) and 30th in scoring offense (1.79 goals per game).
The Gaels look to snap a two-game skid against Greyhounds on Friday afternoon. Baltimore has never showed its "charm" to the Iona as the only time the team came away with a point in 13 tries at Loyola was a 1-1 tie on Oct. 17, 1999.