NEW ROCHELLE – After falling 17-12 to number-ranked Brown University this morning, the Iona men's water polo team racked up its second Northeast Water Polo Conference and home win of the season with a 19-15 victory over the Massachusetts Institute of Technology today at Hynes Pool. Prior to the second match, the Gaels honored graduating seniors William Harrington, Luka Nastic and Luksa Vlasic, along with graduate students Trippe Bauman, James DiSalle and Mohamed Refaat.

Brown (19) 17 Iona 12

In a seesaw match that featured seven ties and five lead changes, Iona was down just one goal going into the fourth quarter, but was outscored 6-2 that period in a 17-12 conference loss to Brown this morning. Freshman Pavlik Musikic led the Maroon and Gold (7-9 overall, 2-3 NEWPC) with three goals on six shots, while senior co-captain Luksa Vlasic and junior Rastko Jevdjovic had two scores apiece. Graduate co-captain Trippe Bauman, graduate co-captain Mohamed Refaat, junior Matthew Mischlich, junior Coby Scanlon, freshman Hugh Coyle scored one goal each.

The Gaels scored 12 goals on 37 shots and made seven assists with two each from Bau man and Mischlich. In goal, sophomore Orlando Hernandez had nine saves on 33 Bears shots, made one steal and had 17 goals against. On defense, the Gaels made five steals. Iona drew 17 Bears kickouts with six by Musikic, while being ejected 20 times, including two five-meter penalties. Refaat, Jevdjovic, Vlasic and Scanlon were disqualified. Iona scored five goals on 17 man-up chances, while Brown had nine goals on 15 opportunities. The Gaels turned the ball over 11 times. Iona won two of four swim offs.

With 1:31 gone in the match, Vlasic got the Gaels on the board first, but the Bears responded with two straight scores for a one-goal 2-1 advantage with 3:28 left in the opening period. Iona took off on its own 2-0 streak with goals from Jevdjovic and Vlasic to take a 3-2 edge at the 1:55 mark.  Two straight Bears scores in the closing minute gave the visitors a 4-3 edge going into the second period.

Iona opened the second quarter with Scanlon, Jevdjovic and Musikic finding the back of the net for a two-goal edge with 1:30 gone. After the Bears answered, Mischlich restored a two-goal margin, but two unanswered Brown goals knotted the score at seven all with 3:39 left. Continuing a 4-0 rally in the next five minutes, the Bears retook a two-score 9-7 lead by halftime. 

With 1:23 gone in the third period, Iona tied the game for the sixth time at nine each after goals by Musikic and Bauman.  Brown scored on its next trip down the pool to go up one 10-9 with 5:23 left. Refaat tied the game at ten all with 1:32 left, but with a five-meter penalty goal, the Bears led by one 11-10 going into the final period.

Musikic needed only 1:45 in the fourth quarter to retie the game at 11 all. Brown answered with three goals on consecutive possessions to go up three 14-11 with 5:24 remaining. After another Brown score, Coyle chopped the visitors' edge back to three 15-12 with 2:11 left. But the Bears answered with two straight goals in the closing minutes to seal the win as a last-second Gaels shot did not make the buzzer.

Iona 19 MIT 14

After three quarters with nine ties, Iona outscored MIT 9-5 in the second half resulting in a 19-14 win for the team's second NWPC and first home victory of the 2024 campaign Musikic led the Maroon and Gold with four goals on eight shots, while Bauman and Mischlich had three goals apiece. Vlasic and Jevdjovic scored twice and DiSalle, Refaat, Scanlon, Coyle and freshman Daniel Raz scored one goal each. The Gaels scored 19 goals on 37 shots and made four assists.  

In goal, freshman Eric Caplener had nine saves on 33 Engineers shots, made one steal and had 14 goals against. On defense, the Gaels made five steals and blocked three MIT shots. Iona drew 12 MIT kickouts with seven by Musikic, including one five-meter penalty, while being ejected 19 times. DiSalle, Vlasic and Scanlon were disqualified with three ejections each. Iona scored three goals on 12 man-up chances, while MIT had three goals on 13 opportunities. The Gaels turned the ball over 13 times. Scanlon won all four swim offs.

Musikic needed only 1:07 into the match to put Iona up 1-0, but MIT answered on its next possession to tie the score at each. Refaat's goal put the Gaels back up one 2-1 until two straight Engineers scores gave the visitors 3-2 advantage with 4:16 left. After Mischlich evened the score at three, two MIT goals put the Engineers up two 5-3.   Mischlich's second goal cut the MIT lead back to one 5-4, then MIT regained a two-goal 6-4 advantage with 1:27 left. Two straight Iona goals from Mischlich and Jevdjovic during the final minute resulted in a six-all tie going into the second period.

With just 39 ticks gone in the second quarter, MIT regained a one-goal 7-6 edge, but Vlasic locked the game at seven all with 5:25 to go. After another brief Engineers lead, Bauman's five-meter penalty score followed by Musikic's second goal gave the Gaels a one-goal 9-8 advantage with 1:53 on the clock.  MIT re-tied the match at nine all, then with 36 seconds left, Coyle restored a one-goal 10-9 Iona lead at halftime.

After a MIT score and another tie at ten all, Mischlich restored a one-goal home edge 11-10 with 6:37 left in the third period. Following an Engineers score and 11-all tie, the Gaels took off on a  4-0 run with DiSalle, Bauman (twice) and Scanlon finding the back of the net for four-goal 15-11 lead with 2:32 to go. MIT cut the Iona edge back to three 15-12 with 35 seconds left.

Two straight Gaels scores by Vlasic and Jevdjovic upped the Iona edge to five 17-12 with 6:21 left in regulation. After MIT scored, Musikic's fourth goal restored the Gaels five-goal edge 18-13 with 4:57 remaining. Raz's gave the Gaels their largest lead of six 19-13 with 1:15 remaining. Despite a MIT goal with 56 seconds left, the Gaels held on for their second conference and first home win of the season.

UP NEXT

On Wednesday, the Gaels travel to Brooklyn for a 7 p.m. conference match against Long Island University.