PROVIDENCE, RI – Despite two strong first-half efforts, the Iona men's water polo team fell 19-9 to number-six ranked Pacific University (Stockton, CA) and 18 to number-15 ranked New York metro rival Fordham University (Bronx, NY) at the second day of the Bruno Classic at Brown University's Coleman Aquatic Center.
#6 Pacific 19 Iona 9
In this morning's opening match, the Gaels fell 19-9 to number-six ranked Pacific despite getting within three goals late in the second period. Junior Luksa Vlasic led the Maroon and Gold (1-3 overall) with four goals on seven shots. Senior Trippe Bauman scored twice on three shots, while senior Drew Miller, senior Jack Folan and junior Luka Nastic scored one goal each. The Gaels made nine goals on 23 shots with five assists.
In goal, senior Diego Gomez had 13 saves on 31 Tigers shots, made one steal and had 19 goals against. On defense, the Gaels made 11 steals with two each from Nastic and sophomore Rastko Jevdjovic. Iona drew seven Pacific kickouts, and two five-meter meter penalties with four drawn by sophomore Coby Scanlon, while being ejected five times. Scanlon also won three of four swim offs. Iona scored two goals on four man-up chances, while Pacific scored four goals on six man-up opportunities. The Gaels turned the ball over 13 times.
The Tigers struck first with 1:28 gone in the match, then scored two consecutive goals for a 3-0 lead with 4:59 remaining in the opening period. Capitalizing on a man-up chance, Vlasic got the Gaels on the board to cut the Tigers lead to two 3-1 with 1:38 on the clock. Two more Pacific goals put the Tigers up 5-1 going into the second period.
With 51 ticks gone In the second, Bauman lobbed a five-meter penalty shot into the back of the net to pull the Gaels within three 5-2. Vlasic followed with his second goal, but the Tigers answered on their next chance to maintain a three-goal edge with 3:14 left. With 1:54 to go, Vlasic scored on a five-meter penalty shot, but the Tigers responded twice in the closing 1:30 to go back up four for a 9-4 halftime advantage.
Bauman opened the second half with another lob goal as the shot clock expired with only 29 ticks gone in the third period. The Tigers tacked on four straight scores for a eight-goal 13-5 advantage with 4;56 to go. Vlasic's fourth score got Iona back within seven 13-6, but the Tigers answered on their next trip down the pool for a 14-6 lead. Three more straight Pacific scores gave the Tigers a 17-6 edge with :44 seconds left, but Nastic answered 29 seconds later to get Iona within ten 17-7 going into the final period.
Continuing a 2-0 Gaels run, Miller's goal with 4:47 remaining narrowed Pacific's edge to nine 17-8. The Tigers went back up ten 18-8 with 3:20 on the clock until Folan's goal sliced their lead back to nine 18-9 at the 3:20 mark. With 45 ticks left, the Tigers sealed their 19-9 win with a man-up score.
#15 Fordham 18 Iona 8
Down by only three goals at halftime, Iona managed just three second-half scores in a 18-8 loss to number-15 ranked Fordham. Vlasic led the Maroon and Gold with three goals on six shots and made one assist, while Bauman scored twice on four shots with one assist. Miller, junior Edward Imm and Scanlon scored one goal apiece. The Gaels made eight goals on 21 shots with five assists, including three by senior James DiSalle.
In goal, sophomore Aleksandar Slavkovic had 18 saves on 36 Rams shots, made three steals and had 18 goals against. On defense, the Gaels made 12 steals with two each from Vlasic and Jevdjovic and one blocked shot by DiSalle. Iona drew 12 Fordham kickouts with three by DiSalle and two five-meter penalties, while being ejected five times, including two five-meter penalties. Iona did not score on seven man-up chances, while Fordham did not score on three man-up opportunities. The Gaels turned the ball over 17 times.
Fordham opened the match with four straight scores for a 4-0 edge with 4:54 remaining in the opening period. Bauman's five-meter penalty goal put the Gaels on the board and sliced the Rams lead to three 4-1 at the 2:45 mark.
With 1:45 gone in the second period, the Rams upped their margin to four 5-1.
After Fordham tacked on another unanswered goal, Imm found the back of the net to pull Iona back within four 6-2 with 4:14 remaining. Two more Rams scores, including a five-meter penalty goal, upped the Fordham lead to six 8-2 with 2:48 left. Forty-one ticks later, Vlasic converted a five-meter penalty shot to get Iona back within five 8-3. On the Gaels next trip down the pool, Vlasic struck again to close the gap to four 8-4 with 1:15 left to halftime. With six seconds left, Miller put the Gaels within three 8-5 at intermission.
After Fordham started the third period with five-meter penalty goal, Scanlon's score sliced the Rams edge back to three 9-6 with 53 seconds gone. In the next 6:17, the Rams took off on a 4-0 run to increase their lead to 13-6 until Bauman's second score with 12 ticks left trimmed the Fordham edge back to six 13-7 going into the final quarter.
One minute into the fourth quarter, the Rams regained a seven-goal advantage 14-7. That sparked a 4-0 run as Fordham went up nine 17-7 with 1:30 remaining. After another Rams score, Vlasic's third goal with 1:02 left was the Gaels sole fourth-quarter score, as Fordham sealed the 18-8 win with 44 ticks left.
UP NEXT
Next weekend the Gaels travel to Princeton University for the Princeton Invite. On Friday, Iona takes on Wagner College at 3:30 p.m., and #16 Santa Clara University at 6:30 p.m. On Sunday, Iona again faces Bucknell University at 3:30 p.m., who defeated the Gaels 12-9 yesterday.
