PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Despite a pair of strong first-half efforts, the Iona University men’s water polo team fell 19-9 to No. 6 University of the Pacific and 18-8 against No. 15/New York rival Fordham University on the second day of the Bruno Classic at Brown University.
In the morning, the Gaels fell by 10 goals to Pacific despite getting within three goals late in the second quarter.
Junior Luksa Vlasic led the Maroon & Gold with four goals on seven shots. Senior Trippe Bauman scored twice on three shots, while senior Drew Miller, senior Jack Folan and junior Luka Nastic tacked on solo markers. The Gaels made nine goals on 23 shots with five assists.
In goal, senior Diego Gomez had 13 saves on 31 Tigers shots and made one steal.
On defense, the Gaels snagged 11 steals with two each from Nastic and sophomore Rastko Jevdjovic. Iona drew seven Pacific kickouts, and two five-meter meter penalties with four ejections drawn by sophomore Coby Scanlon, while being ejected five times. Scanlon also won three of four swim offs. Iona scored two goals on four man-up chances, while Pacific connected for four goals on six man-up opportunities. The Gaels turned the ball over 13 times.
The Tigers struck first with 1:28 gone in the match, then swished consecutive goals for a 3-0 lead with 4:59 remaining in the opening quarter.
Capitalizing on a man-up chance, Vlasic got the Gaels on the board to cut the Tigers lead to two 3-1 with 1:38 on the clock. However, two more Pacific goals put the Tigers up 5-1 going into the second quarter.
With 51 ticks gone In the second quarter, Bauman lobbed a five-meter penalty shot into the back of the net to pull the Gaels within three at 5-2. Vlasic followed with his second goal, but the Tigers answered on their next chance to maintain a three-goal edge with 3:14 left in the first half. Vlasic scored on a five-meter penalty shot with 1:54 on the clock, but the Tigers responded twice in the closing 90 seconds to acquire a 9-4 scoreboard advantage by halftime.
Bauman opened the second half with another lob goal as the shot clock expired to make the score 9-5 29 seconds into the third quarter. The Tigers tacked on four straight scores for a 13-5 advantage with 4:56 to go left in the frame.
Vlasic’s fourth score got Iona back within seven 13-6, but the Tigers answered on their next trip down the pool for a 14-6 lead. Three more straight Pacific scores gave the Tigers a 17-6 edge with :44 seconds left, but Nastic answered 29 seconds later to get Iona within 10 at 17-7 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
Miller’s narrowed the Gaels’ deficit to 17-8 with 4:47 left in the contest. However, the Tigers regained a 10-goal lead at 18-8 with 3:20 on the clock prior to a strike by Folan trimmed the spread to nine at 18-9 at the 3:20 mark.
Iona could not pull any closer as Pacific chipped in one final blow with 45 ticks left to wrap-up the 10-goal victory.
Facing Empire State nemesis Fordham, Iona fell behind by three goals heading into halftime and managed only only three second-half scores in a 18-8 loss to the defending Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Champion Rams.
Vlasic led the Maroon & Gold with three goals on six shots and made one assist, while Bauman scored twice on four shots with one assist. Miller, junior Edward Imm and Scanlon accounted for solo tallies. The Gaels converted for eight goals on 21 shots with five assists, including three by senior James DiSalle.
In goal, sophomore Aleksandar Slavkovic stopped 18 of Fordham’s 36 shots and collected three steals.
On defense, the Gaels made 12 steals with two each from Vlasic and Jevdjovic and one blocked shot by DiSalle. Iona drew 12 Fordham kickouts with three by DiSalle and two five-meter penalties, while being ejected five times, including two five-meter penalties. Iona did not score on seven man-up chances, while Fordham failed to convert on three man-up bids. The Gaels turned the ball over 17 times.
Fordham opened the match with four straight scores for a 4-0 edge with 4:54 remaining in the opening eight minutes. A five-meter penalty tally by Bauman put the Gaels on the board and sliced the Rams lead to three 4-1 at the 2:45 mark. However, the Rams upped their lead to 5-1 with 1:45 gone in the second quarter to begin pulling away from Iona.
After Fordham tacked on another unanswered goal, Imm found the back of the net to put the Gaels back within four at 6-2 with 4:14 remaining in the first half. Two more Rams’ scores, including a five-meter penalty goal, raised the Fordham lead to six at 8-2 with 2:48 left in the first 16 minutes. Forty-one ticks later, Vlasic converted a five-meter penalty shot to get Iona back within five at 8-3. On the Gaels next trip down the pool, Vlasic struck again to close the gap to four 8-4 with 1:15 until halftime. The lead continued to shrink as Miller finished a shot with six seconds left in the second quarter to inch the Gaels within 8-5 heading into halftime.
Following a successful Fordham five-meter penalty shot to commence the third quarter scoring, Scanlon sliced the Rams edge back to three at 9-6 with 53 seconds gone. In the next 6:17, the Rams took off on a 4-0 run to increase their lead to 13-6 until Bauman’s second score with 12 ticks left in the third quarter trimmed the Fordham edge back to 13-7 heading into the final round.
One minute into the fourth quarter, the Rams regained a seven-goal advantage at 14-7 to double-up Iona. The score ignited a 4-0 run as Fordham pushed ahead 17-7 with 1:30 remaining in the game. After another Rams’ score, Vlasic’s third goal with 1:02 left was the Gaels sole fourth-quarter score as Fordham answered with 44 ticks remaining to seal a 10-goal win.
Information courtesy Iona University Athletics Communications
