PRINCETON, NJ – After notching its second win of the season this afternoon with a sudden-death overtime 15-14 win over Johns Hopkins University, the Iona's men's water polo team fell 20-13 to Wagner College in an evening match here at the 2021 Princeton Invitational as freshman Luksa Vlasic scored 13 goals in the two games.

Game One Summary Iona 15 Johns Hopkins 14  3 OT

In a seesaw sudden-death overtime match featuring eight ties and four lead changes, Iona rallied after surrendering a three-goal fourth quarter lead for a dramatic 15-14 victory over Johns Hopkins for the Gaels (2-4 overall) second season win. Vlasic led the Maroon and Gold with seven goals on 14 shots, including the game-winning score, while sophomore Andrew Miller had four goals. Junior Mohamed Refaat scored two goals. Iona scored 15 goals on 45 shots and made two assists.

In goal, junior Kyle Laufenberg made 22 saves on 34 Blue Jays shots with 14 goals against, and made one steal. On defense, Iona made 14 steals with six by Refaat, and blocked four shots with two by Ginsberg. Iona drew eight Johns Hopkins kickouts with three by Vlasic, while being ejected 12 times. Miller was disqualified in the fourth period with three kickouts. The Gaels turned the ball over nine times. Iona scored on four of eight man-up chances, while Johns Hopkins capitalized on four of 12. 

Feeley needed only 44 seconds into the match to put the Gaels up 1-0 until the Blue Jays hit a five-meter penalty shot to knot the game at one with 4:45 left in the first quarter.  Just 1:03 later, Vlasic put Iona back up by one 2-1 going into the second period. Johns Hopkins evened the score at two with 1:03 gone in the second period.  With 4:53 on the clock, Refaat found the back of the net, followed by Miller on the Gaels next possession for 4-2 two-goal lead. The Blue Jays trimmed the Gaels lead back to one 4-3 at the 2:05 mark.  Miller's second-goal lob restored Iona's two-goal edge with 45 ticks to go, but Johns Hopkins crept back within one 11 seconds later as the Gaels led 5-4 at intermission.

The Blue Jays tied the score for the third time 5-5 on a 6-5 advantage with 41 second gone in the third period. Miller's third goal on the Gaels next trip down the pool put Iona back up one 6-5 with 6:13 remaining. Two straight Johns Hopkins scores gave the Blue Jays their first lead 7-6 at the 4:34 mark. Vlasic capitalized on a man-up chance to tie the match at seven, but Johns Hopkins answered with a 6-on-5 score to go ahead one 8-7 with 3:30 remaining. Just 56 seconds later, Vlasic's third score on a five-meter penalty shot retied the game, then on Refaat's second goal retook the lead 9-8 with 1:26 on the clock. With one tick on clock, Miller lobbed the ball into the top-left corner of the cage from six meters for 10-8 two-goal edge going into the final period.

Vlasic's fourth goal with 4:30 left in regulation gave Iona a three-goal 11-8 cushion. Three unanswered Blue Jays scores in the next 3:14 tied the score for the seventh time 11-11 with 1:16 left to send the match into double overtime. Johns Hopkins continued a 4-0 run into the first overtime for the period's only goal with 2:28 left for a 12-11 lead as Iona failed to score. Two more Blue Jays goals built a 14-11 lead until Vlasic scored twice in closing minute to tie the game at fourteen all and force a third sudden-death overtime. Vlasic's seventh score was the golden goal with 1:35 on the clock to seal the Gaels win.

Game Two Summary Wagner 20 Iona 13

Down by only two goals going into the second period, Iona had fallen behind by seven goals at halftime in this evening's 20-13 loss to Wagner College. Vlasic again led the Gaels with six goals on eight shots. Refaat and Miller had three scores each, and Justin Ginsburg scored one goal. The Gaels made 13 goals on 25 shots and made five assists with two from Ginsburg. 

In goal, freshman Diego Gomez made 12 saves on 25 Seahawks shots with 14 goals against. Replacing Gomez in the third period, Laufenberg made eight saves on 14 Wagner shots and had six goals against. On defense, Iona made five steals, and blocked two shots. Iona drew 12 Wagner kickouts with five by Feeley and four by Vlasic, while being ejected six times. The Gaels turned the ball over 13 times. Iona scored on four of 11 man-up chances, while Wagner capitalized on three of six. 

With 15 seconds gone in the match, Refaat gave Iona a 1-0 lead on a five-meter penalty shot, but three straight Wagner scores tied the score, then gave the Seahawks a 3-1 edge with 3:40 left in the first period. After an Iona timeout, Vlasic pulled the Gaels with one 3-2, but the Seahawks answered on their next trip down the pool to lead 4-2 with 1:24 remaining.

Wagner upped its edge to three 5-2 only 24 ticks into the second period. Vlasic's second score trimmed the Wagner advantage back to three 6-3 with 4:56 left.   Two unanswered Seahawks goals put Wagner up five 8-3 then Miller got the Gaels back within four 8-4 at the 3:02 mark. After three more Seahawk scores, Vlasic's third goal trimmed the Wagner edge to six 11-5. Another Wagner goal with 19 ticks left gave the Seahawks a 12-5 lead at intermission.

Wagner continued a seven-goal 5-0 run for a 16-5 advantage until three straight Gaels goals – two by Miller and one by Ginsburg - cut the Seahawk edge back to nine 16-7 with 2:44 on the clock. After Wagner answered, Refaat's second score with 1:10 remaining Iona trailed 16-8 going into the final period. The Gaels began the fourth quarter with two straight goals from Refaat and Vlasic on a five-meter penalty shot to get back within six 17-11 with 6:21 to go. Two more Wagner scores put the Seahawks back up eight 19-11 at the 3:39 mark. In the final 2:15, Vlasic traded goals with Wagner for his fifth and six scores of the game, which made a total of 13 goals for the day. 

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