PRINCETON, NJ – Never down by more than five goals in either contest, the Iona men's water polo team fell 15-13 to Wagner College and 14-11 to number-19-ranked Santa Clara University at the first day of the 2023 Princeton Invitational hosted at DeNunzio Pool by Princeton University.
Wagner 15 Iona 13
Despite taking a one-goal lead into the final period, the Gaels were outscored 4-1 in the fourth quarter, which resulted in a 15-13 loss to Wagner College in this afternoon's match featuring two ties and two lead changes. Senior Drew Miller and junior Luksa Vlasic led the Maroon and Gold (1-5 overall) with four goals each, while senior Trippe Bauman had three scores. Junior Luka Nastic and freshman Jayden Arana added one goal apiece. The Gaels made scored 13 goals on 30 shots with seven assists with four by Bauman.
In goal, senior Diego Gomez had 13 saves on 33 Seahawks shots, including stopping a five-meter penalty attempt, made one steal and had 15 goals against. On defense, the Gaels made six steals. Iona drew 14 Wagner kickouts, and two five-meter meter penalties with six kickouts drawn by Miller, while being ejected ten times. Vlasic was disqualified with three ejections. Sophomore Coby Scanlon won three of four swim offs. The Gaels turned the ball over 12 times.
Wagner stuck first with two straight goals for a 2-0 edge with 5:38 left in the opening period. Vlasic got the Gaels on the board just 1:34 later to pull Iona with one 2-1. Three more Seahawks goals put Wagner up four 5-1 at the 1:25 mark. The Seahawks continued a 4-0 run into the second period for a 6-1 lead with 1:56 gone. Miller ended the Iona offensive drought to slice the Wagner edge to four 6-2 with 3:49 on the clock. The Seahawks went up five 7-2 on a five-meter penalty, but Miller's second score got the Gaels back within four 7-3 with 3:09 to go. Arana followed with his first Iona goal to slice Wagner's edge to three 7-4 with 2:11 left. Bauman and Vlasic continued a 4-0 Iona run with two five-meter penalty scores as the Gaels closed within one 7-6 just 32 seconds later. With five ticks to halftime, Gomez stopped a Seahawks five-meter penalty shot.
After Wagner opened the third period with a goal, Vlasic answered with his third to cut the Seahawks edge to one 8-7 with 1:12 gone. The Seahawk's answered, but Miller's third score got Iona back with one 9-8 with 4:59 to go. Following two straight Wagner goals, Miller buried a five-meter penalty into the back of the net to pull Iona within two 11-9 with 3:56 to go. After Nastic's man-up score, Vlasic hit his fourth goal to knot the game at eleven with 1:04 remaining on another 3-0 Gaels run. With 24 seconds left, Bauman lobbed in Iona's fourth straight goal on a five-meter penalty shot as Iona went up one 12-11 going into the final period.
With 44 seconds gone in the final period, Wagner capitalized on a 6-4 advantage to tie the match, then followed with another goal to go back up one 13-12 with 6:33 remaining. A third straight Seahawks score restored a two-goal 14-12 lead with 4:19 left. With 1:12 remaining, another Bauman five-meter penalty score sliced Wagner's edge back to one 14-13, but the Seahawks answered 25 seconds later to seal the win.
#19 Santa Clara 14 Iona 11
In a match with seven ties and a brief Iona second quarter lead, the Gaels fell 14-11 this evening to number-19 Santa Clara. Miller led the Gaels with four goals on eight shots, while Vlasic had three scores on nine shots. Bauman made two goals and senior James DiSalle and sophomore Rasko Jevdjovic had one goal apiece. The Gaels scored 11 goals on 30 shots with nine assists with five by Bauman.
In goal, sophomore Aleksandar Slavkovic had ten saves on 26 Seahawks shots, made one steal and had 14 goals against. Senior Diego Gomez had two saves on two Seahawks shots and had no goals against in the third period.
On defense, the Gaels made nine steals with three by Miller and blocked five shots. Iona drew six Santa Clara kickouts, while being ejected six times. The Gaels turned the ball over 11 times.
The Broncos scored only 18 seconds into the opening quarter to take a 1-0 lead, but Vlasic answered just 1:30 to tie the match at one-all. After a Broncos five-meter penalty score, Bauman knotted the score at two with 4:52 on the clock. Santa Clara retook a one-goal edge 3-2 with 2:52 remaining, then Vlisac's second goal with 55 ticks left resulted in three-all tie going into the second period.
After Santa Clara regained a one-goal edge just 23 seconds into the second period, Miller retied the game at four on Iona's next trip down the pool. The Broncos scored when Slavkovic was ejected from the goal, but two unanswered Gaels goals from DiSalle and Bauman put Iona back up one 6-5 with 5:08 left. Two straight Santa Clara scores put the Broncos back up one 7-6 at halftime.
Jevdovic needed only 35 seconds to tie the match for the seventh time at seven all, but three straight Broncos goals gave Santa Clara a 10-7 edge with 4:46 left in the third period. Vlasic's third goal pulled Iona back with two 10-8 with 3:01 left, until Santa Clara answered on its next possession for a 11-8 edge. Miller tapped in a rebound, but the Broncos scored at the other end for a 12-9 advantage with 52 ticks on the clock. Blocking a five-meter penalty shot with 11 seconds left, Slavkovic prevented the Broncos from taking a four-goal lead going into the final period.
Miller opened the fourth quarter with his third score to slice the Santa Clara lead back to two 12-10. The Broncos answered with two consecutive scores for a four-goal 14-10 margin with 4:44 left in regulation. Miller scored his fourth goal with 18 seconds left.
Despite two disappointing losses against "very good teams" Iona head coach Brian Kelly was pleased with his squads hard-fought effort. "We had two back-to-back solid games against very good teams," Kelly said. "We're getting very close to being a good team ourselves. "Our goal tending was outstanding in both games, both Diego and Slavke gave us a chance to win each game. Andrew Miller was outstanding in both games. I thought he was one of the best players in the pool today."
UP NEXT
On Sunday the Gaels take on Bucknell University at 3:30 p.m. in a rematch of last Saturday's 12-9 loss at Providence in the 2023 Bruno Classic.
