CAMBRIDGE, MA – After a narrow 16-14 loss to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology this afternoon, the Iona University men's water polo team fell 18-8 this evening to number-17-ranked Harvard University in two Northeast Water Polo Conference road matches.
MIT 16 Iona 14
In a game that featured five ties and two lead changes in the first half, Iona fell behind by five goals in the fourth quarter, then failed to rally in a 16-14 conference loss to MIT this afternoon. Sophomore Pavle Musikic led the Maroon and Gold five goals on nine shots, while graduate student Luka Nastic had three scores on four shots.
Junior Jayden Arana scored twice, while senior co-captain Matthew Mischlich, senior co-captain Rastko Jevdjovic, sophomore Brett Grady and sophomore Ryan Tannus added one goal apiece. The Gaels scored 14 goals on 34 shots on nine assists with three from Jevdjovic.
In goal, senior Aleksandar Slavkovic had nine saves on 25 Engineers shots, made three steals and had 16 goals against. On defense, Grady blocked two MIT shots. The Gaels made seven steals with three by Jevdjovic. Iona drew eight Engineers kick-outs with five by Musikic, and drew two five-meter penalties, while being ejected eight times with three first-quarter five-meter penalties. Senior co-captain Coby Scanlon was disqualified with three ejections.
With 30 seconds gone in the match, MIT got on the board first with a five-meter penalty goal for a 1-0 lead. Nastic tied the game at one-all, but the Engineers answered to go back up one 2-1 with 5:05 left in the opening period. After Jevdjovic re-tied the score at two, the hosts hit four straight goals, including two five-meter penalty scores, for a 6-2 advantage with 36 ticks left.
Twelve seconds later, Musikic got the Gaels back within three 6-3 going into the second period. Musikic opened the second quarter with two unanswered goals to chop the Engineers edge to one 6-5 with 5:30 on the clock. Just 24 seconds later, Grady continued a 4-0 Iona run to tie the game for the third time at six-all. With his second score, Nastic re-knotted the match at seven with 3:40 left.
A minute later, Nastic struck again to give the Gaels their first lead 8-7. With 1:16 left, MIT tied the score for the fifth time for an eight-all match at halftime. MIT retook a one-goal 9-8 lead with 5:03 left in the third period on a five-meter penalty score. Continuing a 4-0 rally, the Engineers hit two more straight goals for a 11-8 advantage with 3:29 to go. Arana ended the Iona offensive drought with a five-meter penalty goal to get the Gaels back within three 12-9 with 2:28 on the clock.
In the opening 2:38 of the final period, MIT struck twice to go up five 14-9. On the Gaels next trip down the pool, Arana's second goal got Iona back within four 14-10. But the hosts answered 15 ticks later go back up five 15-10 with 4:42 left in regulation. Tannus and Musikic cut the home lead back to three 15-12 with 2:02 to go. MIT went back up four 16-12 with 55 ticks left. Two straight Gaels goals from Musikic and Mischlich got Iona with two 16-14 with two seconds left as the late-game rally fell short.
#17 Harvard 18 Iona 8
Down 4-2 early in the second period, Iona managed only six more goals the rest of the way in a 18-8 conference loss to number-17 ranked Harvard this evening. Nastic and Mischlich led the Maroon and Gold with two goals apiece, while Jevdjovic, Musikic, Tannus and sophomore Hugh Coyle had one goal apiece. The Gaels scored eight goals on 25 shots on five assists with three from Nastic and two from sophomore Daniel Raz.
In goal in the first, second and third quarters, senior Aleksandar Slavkovic had seven saves on 25 Crimson shots, made five steals and had 13 goals against. In the fourth quarter, sophomore P.J. Bartzen had two saves on nine Crimson shots and had five goals against.
On defense, Iona blocked four Harvard shots with two each by Jevdjovic and Grady. The Gaels made seven steals. Iona drew five Crimson kickouts with two by Coyle, while being ejected 14 times with two five-meter penalties. Jevdjovic was disqualified with three ejections. The Gaels turned the ball over 16 times. Iona won one of four swim offs. Iona scored one goal on five man-up chances, while Harvard had four on 11 chances.
Harvard needed only 14 seconds into the match to take a 1-0 lead on a five-meter penalty shot. On the Gaels next trip down the pool Musikic tied the game at one with 6:31 remaining in the opening period. Three straight Crimson scores, including a man-up goal, gave the hosts a 4-1 advantage with 3:23 remaining.
With 1:39 gone in the second period, Jevdjovic sliced the Crimson lead back to two 4-2. Two straight Harvard counter scores put the Crimson up four 6-2 with 3:40 on the clock. Mischlich got Iona back within three 6-3, but Harvard answered on its next two chances for an 8-3 edge with 2:18 remaining. Continuing a 3-0 run, Harvard upped its lead to six 9-3 on a man-up goal with 50 ticks gone in the third period. Following another Crimson score, Tannus got Iona back within six 10-4 with 5:40 on the clock. The hosts tacked on three more straight scores for a nine-goal 13-4 margin with 1:13 to go.
Just 20 seconds into final period, the Crimson upped its lead to ten 14-4, then Nastic ended the Iona scoring drought to cut the home edge back to nine 14-5 only 15 seconds later. Following two more consecutive Harvard goals, Mischlich found the back of the net to reduce the Harvard edge back to ten 16-6 with 3:27 to go. After another Harvard tally, Nastic hit his second goal, but the Crimson answered for a 18-7 advantage at the two-minute mark. Coyle scored a man-up goal with two seconds remaining to trim the Harvard lead to ten 18-8.
UP NEXT
On Sunday, the Gaels head to Providence, RI, to wrap up the regular season with a 3 p.m. NEWPC match against number-19-ranked Brown University.
