BROOKLYN, NY – After five first-half ties, the Iona men's water polo team opened the second half down by four, but rallied with a 4-0 run the final three minutes to nip Long Island University 18-17 in for the Gaels third Northeast Water Polo Conference season victory here this evening.

GAME SUMMARY

Senior co-captain Luksa Vlasic led the Maroon and Gold (8-9 overall, 3-3 NEWPC) with six goals on nine shots, while graduate student Trippe Bauman celebrated his birthday with five scores on seven shots and the game-winning assist. Graduate student Mohamad Refaat, who scored the game-winner, and junior Rastko Jevdjovic had three goals each. Junior Coby Scanlon and freshman Pavle Musikic added one score each. The Gaels scored 18 goals 39 shots and made 12 assists with three by Scanlon. 

In goal in the first half, freshman P.J. Bartzen had one save on 17 Sharks shots and had 12 goals against.  In the second half, freshman Eric Caplener had three saves on eight LIU shots, five steals and five goals against, and blocked a LIU five-meter penalty shot. On defense, the Gaels made 14 steals with three by Jevdjovic, which included one that led to the winning goal. Vlasic blocked two LIU shots. The Gaels drew 13 Sharks kick-outs with four by Musikic and and two five-meter penalties, while being ejected 11 times, including one five-meter penalty.  Scanlon was disqualified with three ejections. Iona scored seven man-up goals on 15 chances, while LIU scored five on eleven man-up opportunities.The Gaels turned the ball over ten times.  Scanlon won two of four swim offs.

With 29 seconds gone in the match, Vlasic got Iona on the board first, but LIU tied the match at one on its first trip down the pool.  After Musikic put the Gaels back up one, the Sharks answered 23 ticks later to reknot the score at two all with 5:55 remaining in the opening period. Refaat restored a one-goal Iona edge, but two straight LIU goals put the hosts up one 4-3 with 3:23 remaining. Jevdjovic evened the game at four, then LIU struck to go up one 5-4 with 29 seconds left.

Refaat's second goal knotted the game at five all with only 23 ticks gone in the second period, but three straight LIU scores put the host up three 7-5 with 5:30 remaining. Two straight goals by Vlasic, including a five-meter penalty score, got Iona back within one 8-7 with 4:23 on the clock. The Sharks tacked on three more scores for a three-goal 10-7 lead with 3:01 to go. Bauman answered on Iona's next chance, then LIU struck at the 2:11 mark to go back up three 11-8.  Vlasic's fourth goal sliced the home lead down to two 11-9, but LIU found the back of the net with 25 ticks left for a 12-9 halftime advantage.

LIU opened the third period with its second straight score, then Vlasic's fifth goal got Iona within three 13-10 with 39 ticks gone. Scanlon capitalized on a 6-5 chance to pull Iona within two 13-11 with 4:53 on the clock. Continuing a 3-0 Iona run, Jevdjovic cut the home lead to one 13-12 just 51 seconds later. Two unanswered LIU goals gave the Sharks a three-score 15-12 edge, but Bauman's second goal with 1:32 left got the Gaels back within two 15-13 going into the final period.

Iona outscored LIU 5-2 in the final period. Caplener blocked a LIU five-meter penalty score, but the Sharks scored on their next chance for a three-goal 16-13 edge with 1:28 gone in the fourth period. Bauman's lob sliced the home edge to two, but LIU answered for a 17-14 lead with 3:45 left. Sparking a 4-0 Iona run, Bauman's fourth score just 32 ticks later pulled the Gaels back within two 17-15 with 3:03 left. With a five-meter penalty goal at the two-minute mark, Bauman trimmed the LIU edge to one 17-16. Vlasic tied the game at 17 all with just 34 ticks remaining. Eleven seconds later, Jevdjovic stole a LIU pass, then fired the ball to Bauman, who dished to Refaat for the game-winning score, as Iona foiled a closing-seconds LIU man-up scoring chance in front of the goal.

COACH THOUGHTS

Iona head coach Brian Kelly was "extremely proud" of his squad's win before a boisterous LIU home crowd that caused some defensive issues. "Playing at LIU is a very tough environment to play in," Kelly said.  "It's very loud and the crowd is right on top of you. Our defense was very poor and a lot of that had to do with communication issues.   We had a tough time hearing each other. "I'm extremely proud of the team.  Any time you can have a four-nothing run in three minutes to win a game builds resiliency. It's a moment we can remember for the rest of the season when trailing in the same scenario."

UP NEXT

On Saturday, Iona travels to The Bronx to take on number-six ranked Fordham University for the annual  match for the Dr. Francis X. Judge Cup at 3 p.m.