NEW ROCHELLE  – Although trailing by a single goal in the opening seconds of the second period, the Iona men's water polo team fell 15-7 to number-seven ranked Princeton University in the Gaels first Northeast Water Polo Conference season contest this morning at Hynes Pool.

GAME SUMMARY

Sophomore Coby Scanlon led the Maroon and Gold (4-7 overall, 0-1 NEWPC) with four goals on six shots, while senior Luksa Vlasic had two goals on nine shots. Junior Rastko Jevdjovic scored one goal on four shots. The Gaels scored seven goals on 33 shots and made three assists with two by freshman Hugh Coyle.

In goal, Sophomore Orlando Hernandez had ten saves on 25 Tigers shots, made one steal and had 15 goals against. On defense, the Gaels made nine steals with two each by graduate student Mohamad Refaat, Vlasic, Jevdjovic and Scanlon. Iona drew eleven Tigers kick-outs with three by Refaat and Jevdjovic, while being ejected 13 times. Neither squad had a five-meter penalty. Iona scored two goals on eleven man-up chances, while Princeton had nine goals on 12 opportunities. The Gaels turned the ball over 15 times.  Scanlon won two of four swim offs.

With 2:03 gone in the opening period, the Tigers got on the board first for a 1-0 edge.Princeton tacked on another score for a 2-0 advantage with 2:39 left. The Gaels failed to score on nine shots on goal in the first period. After winning the swim off, Scanlon needed only 36 seconds to slice the visitors lead to one 2-1. The Tigers scored on their next three chances to go back up three 5-1 with 3:48 to go in the second period. Scanlon's second goal got Iona back within 5-2 only 25 ticks later. Finding the back of the net for the third time in the quarter with 2:02 left, Scanlon cut the Tigers edge back to two 5-3. Princeton scored twice in the closing minute for a four-goal 7-3 halftime advantage.

Princeton went up five 8-3 with 5:48 left in the third period, but Scanlon's fourth goal cut the Tigers edge back to four 8-4 just 18 seconds later. Four more straight Princeton goals in the closing 4:51 gave the visitors an eight-score 12-6 cushion going into the final period. Following another Princeton score in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, two straight Gaels goals from Vlasic and Jevdjovic got the home squad back within seven 13-6 with 4:03 left. Princeton tacked on two more scores, but Vlasic's second goal cut the Tigers edge to eight 15-7 with 1:17 remaining, but the visitors held on for the win.

UP NEXT

On Sunday, the Gaels travel to New London, CT, to take on Johns Hopkins University at 12:30 p.m. and host Connecticut College at 2 p.m., both non-conference matches.