NEW ROCHELLE, – After falling to Harvard University 21-11 this morning, the Iona men's water polo team rebounded for a 20-16 victory over the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for its first conference win of the season in two Northeast Water Polo Conference contests today at Hynes Pool.

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Harvard 21 Iona 11 After a brief 2-1 first period lead, Iona allowed six straight Harvard goals and eventually fell 21-11 to the Crimson in this morning's match. Senior co-captain Mitch Mischlich, sophomores Hugh Coyle and Daniel Raz led the Maroon and Gold (2-7 overall, 0-2 NEWPC) with two goals each, while senior Coby Scanlon, sophomore Jayden Arana, sophomore Pavle Musikic, freshman Kale Arena, and freshman Samson Williams added one goal apiece.

The Gaels scored 11 goals on 31 shots on eight assists with two from Mischlich. On defense, Iona blocked two Harvard shots and made four steals with two by Scanlon. Iona drew 17 Crimson kickouts, with four by Scanlon and three by Raz, and drew one five-meter penalty, while being ejected nine times with one five-meter penalty. Senior Rastko Jevdjovic was disqualified with three exclusions. The Gaels turned the ball over eight times. Scanlon won three of four swimoffs. Iona scored three goals on 13 man-up chances, while Harvard had five on nine chances.

In goal in the first half, senior Aleksandar Slavkovic had four saves on 20 Crimson shots, made one steal and had 15 goals against. Freshman P.J. Bartzen had five saves on 14 Crimson shots and had six goals against in the second half.

With a minute gone in the match, the visitors got on the board first, but Scanlon answered to knot the score at one each with 6:45 remaining. Mischlich put the hosts up one 2-1 with 4:53 to go. Four straight Harvard goals gave the Crimson a 4-2 advantage with 1:43 left. With 24 seconds remaining, Harvard went up four 6-2 going into the second period. Continuing a 6-0 run into the second quarter, the Crimson took a five-goal edge 7-2 until Musikic buried a five-meter penalty shot to get the Gaels back within four 7-3 with 49 seconds gone. Five consecutive Harvard scores, including a five-meter penalty goal, gave the Crimson a nine-goal advantage 12-3 at the 3:35 mark. 

Coyle ended the Iona offensive drought with 3:01 remaining, but the Crimson scored seven seconds later to go back up nine 13-4. Coyle struck again, then Harvard scored twice in the final 1:49 for a 14-5 halftime lead. With Bartzen in goal for the Gaels, Harvard opened the second half with two straight scores for a 17-5 advantage with 1:24 gone. After two more visitors' goals, Arana cut the Harvard lead to thirteen 19-6 going into the final period. After two Crimson goals, Mischlich found the back of the net for the second time, followed by two scores from Raz and one each by Arena and Williams for a 5-0 Gaels rally in the closing 4:06, resulting in the 21-11 final score.

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Iona 20 MIT 16 In a seesaw match that featured six ties and four lead changes, Iona trailed by two at intermission, then outscored MIT 12-6 in the second half to earn the Gaels first conference victory of the 2025 campaign. Musikic led the Maroon and Gold with six goals on 19 shots, while graduate student Luka Nastic had four goals on four shots. Jevdjovic and Scanlon added three goals apiece. Mischlich scored twice, and graduate student Edward Imm and sophomore Hugh Coyle had one goal each.

The Gaels scored 20 goals on 46 shots on 14 assists with four from Nastic and three from Musikic. On defense, Iona blocked four MIT shots and made 12 steals with three by Jevdjovic. Iona drew 17 Engineers kickouts (eight by Musikic and four each by Mischlich and Scanlon), and drew two five-meter penalties, while being ejected nine times with no five-meter penalties. The Gaels turned the ball over four times. 

Scanlon won three of four swimoffs. Iona scored five goals on 15 man-up chances, while MIT had two on four chances. In goal, Slavkovic had 12 saves on 30 Engineers shots, made three steals, one assist, and had 15 goals against. Bartzen had two saves on two MIT shots and one goal against.

Mischlich used a man-up chance to put the Gaels up one 1-0 with 1:10 gone. Musikic followed with two straight scores for a 3-0 Iona edge. The Engineers answered with two goals to slice the home lead to one 3-2. After Musikic buried a five-meter penalty goal, MIT responded with two goals to tie the match at four. The squads traded goals, resulting in a 5-5 tie (Nastic scoring for Gaels). MIT took its first lead 6-5 going into the second period. Jevdjovic struck twice to tie the score at six, then give the Gaels a brief 7-6 edge. Iona regained the advantage 8-7 on Nastic's second score. The visitors tied the score for the fifth time at eight, then with two more goals built a two-score 10-8 halftime lead. 

MIT opened the second half with its fifth consecutive score, but Iona answered with two straight goals from Jevdjovic and Mischlich to trim the visitors' edge back to one 11-10. The Engineers briefly went back up two 12-10, then Nastic's third goal pulled the Gaels within one 12-11. That sparked a three-goal Iona rally with Musikic and Scanlon scoring as the home squad regained a one-score 13-12 edge. 

Scanlon struck again for a 14-12 margin until MIT got back within one 14-13. Musikic's fifth goal on a five-meter penalty shot restored a two-goal 15-13 edge. Following a MIT goal, Scanlon beat the buzzer for a two-score 16-14 home edge going into the final period. Neither squad scored in the final period until Nastic's fourth goal resulted in a three-score 17-14 Iona advantage. With a man-up goal, MIT trimmed the Iona edge back to two 17-15, then Musikic's sixth score rebuilt a three-goal 18-15 home lead. Coyle tipped in a rebound to put the Gaels up four 19-15. Following a MIT goal, Imm sealed the Gaels first season conference win 20-16.

COACH THOUGHTS

Iona head coach Brian Kelly expressed disappointment with the effort against Harvard but praised the turnaround against MIT. "We needed a win badly," Kelly said. "We haven't been playing well and we haven't figured out our identity. This morning we played terribly versus Harvard... We had some exceptional performances against MIT led by Ed Imm on defense, Pavle Musikic in center, and Luka Nastic who played the best game of his career."

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On Sunday, the Gaels will honor their four graduating seniors and two graduate students on Senior Day before taking on number-18-ranked Brown University at 12:30 p.m. ET.