BROOKLYN, NY - Despite one tie in the opening period, the Iona men's water polo team led the rest of the way by as much as eight goals to earn the Gaels fourth Northeast Water Polo Conference win 17-10 over Long Island University here this afternoon.
Sophomore Pavle Musikic led the Maroon and Gold with six goals on nine shots, while graduate student Luka Nastic and senior co-captain Rastko Jevdjovic scored three goals each, and senior co-captain Matthew Mischlich added two goals. Junior Jayden Arana, sophomore Ryan Tannus and freshman Samson Williams had one goal apiece. The Gaels scored 17 goals on 30 shots on nine assists with five by Jevdjovic.
In goal in the second and fourth quarters, senior Aleksandar Slavkovic had ten saves on 17 LIU shots, one steal and six goals against. In the first and third quarters, sophomore P.J. Bartzen had eight saves on 14 LIU shots and four goals against. On defense, the Gaels made seven steals with two each from Jevdjovic and Mischlich and blocked three shots with two by Jevdjovic. Iona drew 13 LIU kickouts with four by Musikic and three by Jevdjovic, including four five-meter penalties, while being ejected eleven times, including two five-meter penalties. Iona scored six goals on 13 man-up chances. The Gaels turned the ball over ten times. Senior Coby Scanlon won three of four swim offs.
With just 19 seconds into the match, Musikic got Iona on the board first with a five-meter penalty goal, which he drew, for a 1-0 Gaels lead. The Sharks answered on their first trip down the pool to tie the game at one with 6:43 to go in the opening period. Just 14 ticks later, Mischlich put the Gaels back up one 2-1, followed by Jevdjovic and Nastic on a man-up chance for a three-goal 4-1 Iona edge with 2:46 on clock.
After a Sharks score, Arana and Nastic on a five-meter penalty shot gave the Gaels a four-goal 6-2 advantage with 1:21 remaining. With his second score on a five-meter penalty try, Musikic upped that lead to five 7-2 with three seconds left. Continuing a 4-0 Gael run, Nastic's third score put Iona up six 8-2 with 1:13 gone in the second quarter. With two straight scores, the Sharks cut the Gaels lead back to four 8-4 with 4:34 to go. After Jevdjovic's second goal, LIU answered to get back within four 9-5 at the 2:17 mark.
Musikic's third goal just ten ticks later restored Iona's five-score edge 10-5, then LIU cut that lead back to four 10-6 with 1:53 remaining. Just 13 seconds later, Musikic scored his fourth goal on another five-meter penalty shot for an 11-6 Gaels halftime cushion.
With 4:28 left in the third period, Musikic struck again on a five-meter penalty chance followed 46 seconds later by Jevdjovic's third score for a seven-score 13-6 Gaels advantage. After Tannus upped the Iona edge to eight 14-6, LIU sliced the Gaels lead back to seven 14-7 with 2:11 on the clock. After Mischlich's second goal, LIU got back within seven again 15-8 with a five-meter penalty goal with 1:12 left. With 22 seconds left, Williams gave Iona an eight-goal 16-8 advantage going into the final period.
Just 1:13 into the fourth quarter, LIU narrowed the Iona advantage back to seven 16-9. With his seventh score, Musikic increased the Iona margin to eight 17-9 at the 3:51 mark. The Sharks scored with 2:53 left as the Gaels earned their fourth season conference win 17-10.
COACH THOUGHTS
Proud of his team's performance, Iona head coach Brian Kelly praised their play in all aspects of the game. "I'm proud of the way that we played together today on both sides of the pool," Kelly said. "LIU is always a very hostile environment and I thought we controlled the game from the first goal to the last. "PJ and Alex set the tone splitting time in goal with the combined 18 saves. Pavle was tremendous in leading the offense."
UP NEXT
Next weekend the Gaels wrap up the regular season with three road NEWPC matches in New England. On Saturday in Cambridge, MA, Iona faces the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at noon and Harvard University at 7 p.m. On Sunday in Providence, RI, Iona takes on Brown University at 3 p.m.
