PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Iona University men’s water polo team took an 18-7 loss to No. 9-ranked University of the Pacific prior to putting down Gannon University, 14-12, at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatic Center on the first day of Brown University’s 2025 Bruno Classic.
Facing Pacific, the Gaels fell behind 7-2 by the end of the first quarter and were unable to rally back to crash the Waves.
Senior Rastko Jevdjovic and freshman Samson Williams, in his Iona debut, led the Maroon and Gold with three goals each. Sophomore Brett Grady added one score on his only shot. The Gaels scored seven goals on 23 shots on five assists.
In goal, senior Aleksandar Slavkovic had 11 saves on 34 Tigers’ shots, made three steals and had 18 goals against.
On defense, senior Coby Scanlon blocked one Pacific shot. The Gaels made nine steals with two from Jevdjovic. Iona drew 14 Pacific kick-outs with three each by senior Matthew Mischlich, sophomore Pavle Musikic and sophomore Daniel Raz, while being ejected 12 times with two five-meter penalties.The Gaels turned the ball over 18 times. Iona won two of four swim-offs.
With 1:06 gone in the match, Pacific got on the board first for a 1-0 edge. The Tigers followed with two straight scores to build a 3-0 advantage with 4:33 left in the opening eight minutes. With his first Gaels’ goal, Williams pulled Iona back within two at 3-1 just 23 ticks later.
On the Gaels next chance, Williams struck again on a man-up chance as Iona cut the Tigers’ edge to 3-2 with 3:22 left in the frame. Pacific answered with four consecutive scores, including a five-meter penalty goal, for a five-goal 7-2 lead going into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the Tigers continued a 8-0 run with five more scores until Jevdiovic took advantage of a 6-5 opportunity to cut the Pacific lead to 11-3 with 2:58 remaining in the first half.
The Gaels outscored the Tigers 3-2 in the third quarter. Grady needed just 35 seconds into the third quarter to get Iona within 11-4, but Pacific answered on its next chance for a 12-4 edge with 6:34 left on the clock. Jevdiovic’s second score 24 seconds later cut the Tigers’ scoreboard advantage to 12-5. Following after another Pacific goal with 3:55 left to play, Jevdiovic’s third score reduced the Tigers’ edge to 13-6 going into the fourth quarter.
After the Tigers opened the final frame with another score to go up 14-6, Williams buried his third goal to pull the Gaels back within seven at 14-7 with 6:16 remaining in regulation. Pacific sealed its 18-7 win with four consecutive scores before Slavkovic blocked a Tigers five-meter penalty shot with 2:33 left to keep the final margin at 11 goals.
In the late game, Iona held off the Golden Knights of Gannon for a two-score victory.
After a first half featuring five ties and two lead changes, Iona mounted a five-goal rally, then stopped Gannon’s four-goal fourth-quarter surge to earn the squad’s first win of the season.
Musikic led Iona with a perfect seven goals on seven shots, while Mischlich added three on seven shots. Jevdjovic scored twice, while Grady and sophomore Ryan Tannus each had one goal. The Gaels scored 14 goals on 27 shots on 11 assists with three by Jevdjovic and two each from senior Coby Scanlon and Musikic.
In goal, Slavkovic had eight saves on 22 Gannon shots, made five steals and had 12 goals against. On defense, the Gaels made 15 steals with three by Scanlon and two by Grady and junior Zachary McAllister-Sim. Jevdjovic blocked one Golden Knights’ shot. Iona drew 10 Gannon kickouts with three by Scanlon and a pair from Musikic, including two five-meter penalties, while being ejected seven times with two five-meter penalties. Williams was disqualified with three ejections. The Gaels turned the ball over 16 times. Iona won two of four swimoffs.
Musikic needed only 59 seconds into the match to give Iona a 1-0 advantage. Two minutes later, Mitschlich gave the Gaels a two-goal cushion at 2-0. With 3:30 left in the opening eight minutes, Gannon got on the board to slice the Iona advantage back to one at 2-1. The Golden Knights knotted the score at two-all on their next possession with 2:40 remaining. Just 28 ticks later, Musikic restored Iona’s lead 3-2 on a five-meter penalty shot. With 32 seconds to go, Gannon retied the game at three-all going into the second quarter.
With 1:43 gone in the second quarter, Gannon earned its first lead 4-3, but Jedjovic tied the game for the third time at four-all with 5:50 to go. A Gannon lob put the Golden Knights ahead 5-4 with 3:29 remaining in the first half. On the Gaels next trip down the pool, Musikic’s second goal tied the game at the three-minute mark. Taking advantage of a man-up chance, Gannon went back up 6-5, but Mischlich answered just nine ticks later to tie the match at six-all with 1:45 remaining in the second quarter. With a single second on the clock, Grady’s corner shot from seven meters put Iona back up one at 6-5 as the halftime buzzer sounded.
Continuing a 3-0 run, Mischlich’s third goal gave Iona a two-score/8-6 cushion with 6:12 left in the third quarter. Following Musikic’s fourth goal, Jevdjovic’s second tally on a five-meter penalty try mounted a four-goal/10-6 advantage to cap off a 5-0 Gaels’ rally. After Gannon ended Iona’s scoring run, Musikic’s fifth score put Iona back up four at 11-7 with 2:35 to go in the quarter. The Golden Knights answered, but Tannis found the back of the net with 32 ticks left for a 12-8 Iona edge heading into the fourth quarter.
Musikic scored his sixth tally with just 38 seconds gone in the final frame, but Gannon answered with back-to-back tallies, including a five-meter penalty goal, to slice Iona’s edge back to three at 13-10 with 6:39 left in regulation.
On a 3-0 run, Gannon landed another five-meter penalty score to move within a pair at 13-11 with 4:44 on the clock. Another Golden Knights goal cut the Gaels lead to 13-12 at the 3:15 mark, but Musikic’s seventh score with 2:08 to play ended the Gannon rally as the Gaels held on for their first win of the 2025 season.
Despite the loss to Pacific, Iona head coach Brian Kelly, who begins his 31st season at the helm of the program, was pleased with his squad’s energy, hard work and drawing exclusions, but disappointed with its performance on power-play opportunities.
“It was a good opening day,” said Kelly. “We brought a lot of energy to both games. We have an extremely hard-working team that is very athletic, and we drew a ton of exclusions. Unfortunately, we didn’t do a very good job in our power plays. We have grinders that are going to draw exclusions for us all season long. We are going to be a very good team when we get better execution on our power plays.”
Information courtesy Iona University Athletics Communications
