CAMBRIDGE, MA -  After surrendering a three-goal early fourth-quarter lead, the fourth-seeded Iona University men's water polo team advanced to the semi-final round with a triple sudden-death overtime 13-12 win over fifth-seeded Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the opening match of the Northeast Water Polo Conference Championship this weekend hosted by Harvard University.

GAME SUMMARY

Junior tri-captain Luksa Vlasic led the Maroon and Gold (13-15 overall) with four goals on seven shots, while senior tri-captain Drew Miller and sophomore Coby Scanlon had three goals each. Sophomore Rastko Jevdjovic had two goals and junior Luka Nastic made one. The Gaels scored 13 goals on 34 shots on 10 assists with six by senior tri-captain Trippe Bauman.  

In goal, senior Diego Gomez had 12 saves on 32 Tigers shots, made one steals and had 12 goals against. On defense, the Gaels made 12 steals with four by Scanlon. Iona blocked three MIT shots. Iona drew ten MIT kickouts with three by Jevdjovic, including one five-meter penalty, while being ejected four times with no five-meter penalties. The Gaels turned the ball over 21 times. Iona scored on six of ten man-up chances, while MIT did not score on four man-up chances. Scanlon won all seven swimoffs.

With 41 seconds gone in the match, Vlasic got Iona on the board with a man-up score for a 1-0, but MIT did the same to tie the game at one each with 7:05 remaining in the opening period. Scanlon and Vlasic on the Gaels next possessions for a two-goal 3-1 edge with 4:49 left. After an Engineers goal, Vlasic's third score on a man-up chance to regain Iona's two-goal margin 4-2 at the 3:38 mark. With 11 ticks remaining, MIT pulled within one 4-3 going into the second period.

With their second straight goal, the Engineers retied the score at four all, then Miller capitalized on a 6-5 advantage to put the Gaels back up one 5-4 with 5:13 left. Miller struck again on a counter-attack goal to up the Iona edge to two 6-4 with 3:02 remaining.  Following a MIT goal, Scanlon's second score restored the Gaels two-goal advantage, but the Engineers pulled back within one 7-6 only 18 seconds later with 2:15 to go. At the one-minute mark, Nastic's man-up goal gave the Gaels a two-goal 8-6 halftime edge.

Neither squad scored in the third period until Miller's lob increased Iona's lead to three 9-6 with 5:06 left.   After Vlasic missed a five-meter penalty shot, MIT countered to get back within two 9-7 with 4:10 on the clock.  Each team managed only one goal apiece in the quarter as Iona maintained that 9-7 edge going into the final period. After just 1:12 gone in fourth quarter, Jevdjovic ended the Iona offensive drought to up the Gaels edge to three 10-7.
   
Two unanswered MIT goals sliced the Iona lead back to one 10-9 at the 3:57 mark. With his second goal of the quarter, Jevdjovic put Iona back up two 11-9, but MIT answered on its next chance to again get within one 11-10 with 2:44 to go. With just 22 ticks on the clock, MIT tied the game for the third time at 11 apiece to force overtime as Iona failed to score on its last possession.

In the first overtime, neither squad found the back of the net as the game remained knotted at 11 each going into the second overtime. With 1:53 left, MIT took its first lead 12-11 on a man-up score. Leaving an empty net for an extra-man field advantage, Iona re-tied the game at 12 apiece on Scanlon's third score with 15 ticks to go to force a third sudden-death overtime period. With Scanlon's seventh swim-off win, the Gaels carried a man-up exclusion advantage into the third overtime and needed only 28 seconds to advance to the semi-final round 13-12 on Vlasic's fourth score.

UP NEXT

At noon tomorrow, the Gaels will take on number-one seeded Princeton University in a semi-final match.

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