NEW LONDON, CT – Rebounding from three narrow  last weekend at the Princeton Invite, the Iona University men's water polo team recorded three non-conference wins over Toronto University, Penn State Behrend (Erie, PA) and Saddleback College (Mission Viejo, CA) at the 2023 Camel Round-up hosted here this weekend by Connecticut College.

Iona 16 Toronto 15

After giving up a one-goal first-quarter lead, Iona rallied in the final period for a 16-15 win this morning in a match which featured nine ties and four lead changes. Senior Drew Miller and junior Luksa Vlasic led the Maroon and Gold (4-6 overall) with five goals each, while sophomore Rastko Jevdjovic had four scores.   Senior Trippe Bauman and sophomore Coby Scanlon added one goal apiece. The Gaels scored 16 goals on 33 shots on eight assists with four by Bauman, including one leading to Miller's game-winning goal.

In goal, senior Diego Gomez had ten saves on 30 Varsity Blues shots, made two steals and had 15 goals against. 
On defense, the Gaels made ten steals with two each from Bauman, Miller and Scanlon. Miller blocked one Toronto shot.  Iona drew eight Toronto kickouts with two by Vlasic, including two five-meter penalties, while being ejected eight times.  Scanlon two of four swim offs. The Gaels turned the ball over 11 times.
 
With 26 seconds gone in the match, Bauman got Iona on the board first with a five-meter penalty goal, but Toronto tied the match at one just 30 seconds later. Following another Varsity Blues score, Miller retied the game at two all with 5:43 on the clock. The Gaels retook a 3-2 lead on Miller's second goal with 4:17 to go in the opening period.   Toronto answered to re-knot the game at three, then Miller's third score followed by Jevdjovic to restore Iona's two-goal edge 5-3 at the 2:28 mark. With 43 ticks remaining, the Varsity Blues pulled back with one 5-4, but Scanlon scored just 20 seconds later to put the Gaels up two 6-4. Toronto cut the Iona lead back to one 6-5 with three seconds on the clock.

Vlasic's first score opened the period for a two-goal 7-5 Iona edge with 24 ticks gone. Two straight Varsity Blues goals tied the score for the fourth time at seven at the 4:46 mark. Vlasic's second score put Iona back up one 8-7 just 35 seconds later. Three straight Toronto scores gave the Varsity Blues a two-goal 10-8 advantage with 2:39 left.   Vlasic's third goal sliced the Varsity Blues edge back to one, then Toronto responded with 25 ticks remaining for a 11-9 halftime lead.

Fifty-six seconds into the third period, Toronto upped its edge to three 12-8, until Jevdjovic's second goal got Iona within two 12-10 with 5:06 left. Vlasic's fourth and fifth goals tied the score at twelve with 46 seconds on the clock.    Just 22 ticks later, Toronto briefly took a one-goal lead 13-12, then with nine seconds left, Jevdjovic's third score evened the match at thirteen all going into the final period.

After the Varsity Blues retook a one-goal edge 14-13, Jevdjovic knotted the game for the eighth time at fourteen all with 6:08 left in regulation. Toronto answered, but Miller buried a five-meter penalty shot as the Gaels tied the match at fifteen with 5:32 to go. The score remained tied until Miller tipped  Bauman's pass into the back of the net for the 16-15 win with 1:43 remaining. In the closing minute, Gomez stopped two Toronto shots, including a breakaway to save the victory.

Iona 18  Penn State Behrend 4

With 12 players scoring, Iona coasted to a 18-4 win over Penn State Behrend in today's second match to notch the Gaels third season victory. Miller and freshman Jayden Arana led the Maroon and Gold with three goals each, while junior Edward Imm and Scanlon had two scores.  Senior James DiSalle, senior Jack Folan, junior William Harrington, junior Edward Howaniec, junior Luka Nastic, Vlasic, freshman Sean Mulcrone and freshman Christian Stecco scored one goal apiece. The Gaels scored 18 goals on 32 shots on 11 assists with three by Nastic.

In goal, sophomore Aleksandar Slavkovic had three saves on 12 Lions shots, made two steals and one assist and had one goal against in the first half. Gomez had eight saves on 15 Lions shots and had four goals against in the second half. On defense, the Gaels made 20 steals with three each from Arana, Harrington, Scanlon, and Folan. Iona blocked three Behrend shots. Iona drew ten Behrend kickouts with two each by Arana, Harrington, Imm and DiSalle, including two five-meter penalties, while being ejected three times. Scanlon and Stecco won all four swim offs. The Gaels turned the ball over 13 times.
 
With three straight scores in the opening 3:23 of the match, Miller gave the Gaels a 3-0 lead. Arana put the Gaels up four 4-0 with 3:20 remaining in the first period. The Iona defense held Behrend scoreless in the first quarter. Continuing a 6-0 run, two straight Scanlon scores in the opening 1:04 of the second period gave the Gaels a 6-0 advantage. The Lions got on the board to narrow the Gaels edge to five 6-1 with 6:05 remaining. Vlasic answered 46 ticks later, followed by DiSalle and Imm, to put Iona up eight 9-1 at the 3:22 mark. Unanswered goals by  Harrington, Arana and Mulcrone with his first Gaels goal, sustained a 6-0 Iona run for a 12-1 halftime lead. The Lions opened the second half with two consecutive scores to slice the Gaels lead to nine 12-9 with 6:13 left in the third period.   

Arana's third goal put Iona back up ten 13-3, but Behrend answered on its next possession as Iona led 13-4 with 4:58 on the clock. Neither squad scored for the rest of the third quarter. Just 30 ticks into the final period, Imm's second goal followed by a ten-goal 14-4 Gaels advantage. That began a 5-0 Iona run with goals from Howaniec, Stecco (first Gaels goal), Nastic and Folan for a 18-4 edge with 2:10 remaining before a Lions goal ten seconds later.

Iona 15  Saddleback 12

In a seesaw match with seven ties and seven lead changes, Iona recorded its third win of the day with a 15-12 victory this afternoon over Saddleback College. Miller led the Maroon and Gold with six goals on 11 shots, while Vlasic had four scores on nine shots. DiSalle added two goals and Bauman, Imm and Arana had one goal apiece. The Gaels scored 15 goals on 34 shots on 11 assists with two each by Scanlon and Bauman.

In goal, sophomore Aleksandar Slavkovic had eight saves on 20 Bobcats shots, made four steals and one assist with 12 goals against. On defense, the Gaels made 20 steals with four from Scanlon. Iona blocked two Saddleback shots.  Iona drew 12 Saddleback kickouts with four by Scanlon, and two five-meter penalties, while being ejected seven times. Scanlon won three of four swim offs. The Gaels turned the ball over ten times. 

Miller needed only 16 seconds to give Iona a 1-0 edge, but Saddleback answered to tie the game at one each with 6:22 remaining in the opening period. DiSalle restored a one-goal Gaels lead, until two straight Bobcats scores gave Saddleback a 3-2 advantage.DiSalle struck again followed by Vlasic to put Iona back up one 4-3 with 3:40 on the clock. Two Bobcats consecutive scores in the closing 3:33 resulted in the quarter's fourth tie at four goals each, then a one-goal Saddleback lead 5-4 going into the second period.

Continuing their 3-0 run, the Bobcats upped their lead to two 6-4 just 54 seconds into the second period. Miller's second score sliced Saddleback's edge back to one 6-5 with 5:56 remaining. On the Gaels next chance, Vlasic tied the game at six all at the 4:59 mark. Thirty seconds later, Saddleback retook the lead 7-6. Two straight scores by Miller, including a man-up goal, reknotted the score at seven, then put Iona back up one 8-7 with 2:28 left. After Bauman's five-meter penalty attempt was blocked, Miller fired another five-meter chance into the back of the net with 36 ticks left for a two-goal 9-7 halftime Gaels advantage. 

With 1:45 gone in the third quarter, the Bobcats capitalized on a man-up chance to slice the Gaels lead back to one 9-9. Another Saddleback score just 39 seconds later tied the game for the seventh time at nine all. Three straight Iona scores by Miller, Vlisac and Imm put the Gaels back up three 12-9 at the  2:20 mark. A Bobcats goal 20 ticks later cut the Gaels advantage to two 12-10.   

Two unanswered Iona goals in the closing 40 seconds by Bauman and Arana have the Gaels a four-goal 14-10 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Bobcats opened the final period with a man-up goal to cut the Iona lead to three 14-11. Vlasic's fourth goal upped the Gaels advantage to four 15-11 with 3:42 remaining. A deflected Saddleback shot floated into the goal with 50 ticks left as Iona won its third game of the day and fourth of the season.

As his team begins its conference schedule, Iona head coach Brian Kelly was pleased with three road wins, but would like to see more defensive improvement. "It's never easy to play three games in one day," Kelly said. "Getting three wins today was a total team effort. Our offense had good production all day led by Drew and Luksa. Our defense needs to do a better job with communication and awareness."

UP NEXT

The Gaels will host Connecticut College at 1 p.m. on Saturday.