CAMBRIDGE, MA - After a narrow 11-10 victory over the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Iona men's water polo team fell 19-10 to number-13 ranked Harvard University in two Northeast Water Polo Conferences matches here today.
Iona 11 MIT 10
After leading by six 7-1 early in the third period, Iona was outscored 9-4 by MIT the rest of the game, but held on for a one-goal 11-10 win in today's first match at MIT's Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center. Junior tri-captain Luksa Vlasic led the Maroon and Gold with three goals on eight shots, while senior tri-captains Trippe Bauman and Andrew Miller and senior James DiSalle had two goals each. Junior Edward Howaniec and sophomore Rastko Jevdjovic added one goal apiece. The Gaels scored 11 goals on 32 shots on seven assists with three by sophomore Coby Scanlon, who won all four swim offs.
In goal, sophomore Aleksandar Slavkovic had 13 saves on 27 Engineers shots and had ten goals against. On defense, the Gaels made six steals. Iona blocked four MIT shots with two by Jevdjovic, including the game-saver. Iona drew 11 MIT kickouts with four by Miller, including one five-meter penalty, while being ejected ten times. The Gaels turned the ball over 16 times. Iona scored on five of 11 man-up chances, while MIT scored twice on eight man-up chances.
MIT needed just 1:05 to take a 1-0 edge on its first possession, but Vlasic's two straight scores gave Iona a 2-1 advantage only a minute later. DiSalle upped the Gaels lead to two 3-1 with 4:10 left in the opening period. With 1:13 gone in the second quarter, Miller continued a 4-0 Iona run followed by Jevdjovic for a 5-1 Gaels margin at the 6:03 mark. Iona took that four-goal 5-1 lead into halftime as MIT failed to score in the second quarter.
In the opening 1:43 of the second half, two straight Gaels goals by Bauman and Miller increased their lead to six 7-1. With three unanswered goals, MIT sliced the Iona margin back to three 7-4 with 3:38 to go. Bauman's five-meter penalty goal briefly stalled the Engineers' rally, as MIT tacked on two more straight scores to narrow Iona's advantage to two 8-6 with 2:30 remaining. Two more MIT consecutive goals knotted the game at eight-all with 11 ticks left. Miller's second score with one second on the clock restored a one-goal Iona edge going into the final period.
DiSalle opened the fourth quarter with his second goal to put Iona back up two 10-8 with 6:27 left. The hosts crept back within one 10-9 with 3:47 remaining. Twenty-seven seconds later, the Gaels regained a two-score edge as Howaniec found the back of the net, but the Engineers answered on their next chance to get back within one 11-10 with 2:40 left. Thanks to Jevdjovic's block with 15 seconds left, the Gaels held on for the win.
#13 Harvard 19 Iona 10
After giving up six straight first-quarter goals, Iona trailed by only four 7-4 at halftime, but could not overcome a double-digit second-half deficit in a 19-10 loss to number-13 ranked Harvard this evening at Blodgett Pool. Miller led the Maroon and Gold with three goals on seven shots, while Vlasic and Jevdjovic had two goals each. Bauman, DiSalle and junior Luka Nastic added one goal apiece. The Gaels scored nine goals on 35 shots on seven assists with three by junior William Harrington. Scanlon won all four swim offs.
In goal for the first half, Slavkovic had two saves on 19 Crimson shots and had 14 goals against. In goal for the second half, senior Diego Gomez had seven saves on 15 Crimson shots, made two steals and had five goals against. On defense, the Gaels made ten steals with two by Scanlon. Iona blocked three Harvard shots. Iona drew four Harvard kickouts with two by DiSalle, including one five-meter penalty, while being ejected 12 times and one five-meter ejection. The Gaels turned the ball over ten times. Iona scored on three of 12 man-up chances, while Harvard scored one of four man-up chances.
With 1:25 gone in the match, Harvard got on the board first for a 1-0 advantage. The Crimson scored on its next four possessions for a five-goal 5-0 lead with 3:02 left. The hosts tacked on another unanswered score for a 6-0 margin, then Miller ended the Iona offensive drought to trim the home lead to five 6-1 with 1:08 remaining. Jevdjovic's goal with 43 ticks left got the Gaels within four 6-2, but the Crimson answered 18 seconds later to go back up five 7-2. At the buzzer, Jevdjovic struck again to get Iona within four 7-3 going into the second period.
On two straight scores, Harvard retook a six-goal edge 9-3 with 3:02 gone in the second period. On the Gaels next trip down the pool, Vlasic cut the home advantage back to five 9-4 only 34 ticks later. Harvard scored on its next five possessions for a ten-goal 14-4 halftime cushion with 52 seconds left on the clock.
With Gomez in goal, Harvard padded its lead to eleven 15-4 with 1:32 gone in the third period. Miller's second score sliced the home edge back to ten 15-5 at the 4:45 mark. The Crimson answered to go up 16-5, then Vlasic's second goal got the Gaels within ten 16-6 with 1:44 remaining. Another Harvard goal with 27 ticks left gave the Crimson a 17-6 advantage going into the final period.
Bauman scored the final period's first goal with 5:55 remaining, but Harvard responded for an eleven-goal 18-7 advantage just 14 seconds later. After Miller's third goal got Iona within ten 18-8, Harvard struck again to lead 19-8 with 4:25 remaining. DiSalle cut the home lead back to ten 19-9 at the 2:23 mark. Twenty-two seconds later, Gomez stopped a Harvard five-meter penalty shot, then Nastic converted a five-meter chance to get Iona within nine 19-10 with 27 seconds left.
UP NEXT
The Gaels travel to Providence, RI, tomorrow for a 3 p.m. match against Brown University.
