PRINCETON, N.J. — Never down by more than five goals in either contest, the Iona University men’s water polo team fell to Wagner College, 15-13, and No. 19-ranked Santa Clara University, 14-11, on the first day of the 2023 Princeton Invitational hosted at DeNunzio Pool by Princeton University.
Despite taking a one-goal lead into the final quarter against Wagner, the Gaels were outscored 4-1 in the final eight minutes in a contest that featured pairs of ties and lead changes.
Senior Drew Miller and junior Luksa Vlasic led the Maroon and Gold with four goals each, while senior Trippe Bauman had three scores. Junior Luka Nastic and freshman Jayden Arana added one goal apiece. The Gaels made scored 13 goals on 30 shots with seven assists with four by Bauman.
In goal, senior Diego Gomez had 13 saves on 33 Seahawks shots, including stopping a five-meter penalty attempt, made one steal and had 15 goals against. On defense, the Gaels made six steals. Iona drew 14 Wagner kickouts and two five-meter meter penalties with six kickouts drawn by Miller, while being ejected 10 times. Vlasic was disqualified with three ejections. Sophomore Coby Scanlon won three of four swimoffs. The Gaels turned the ball over 12 times.
Wagner stuck first with two straight goals for a 2-0 edge with 5:38 left in the opening quarter. Vlasic got the Gaels on the board just 1:34 later to pull Iona with one 2-1. Three more Seahawks’ goals put Wagner up four 5-1 at the 1:25 mark.
The Seahawks continued a 4-0 run into the second quarter for a 6-1 lead with 1:56 gone. Miller ended the Iona offensive drought to slice the Wagner edge to four 6-2 with 3:49 on the clock. The Seahawks went up 7-2 on a five-meter penalty, but Miller’s second score placed the Gaels back within four at 7-3 with 3:09 remaining in the frame. Arana followed with his first Iona goal to slice Wagner’s edge to three 7-4 at the 2:11 mark. Bauman and Vlasic continued a 4-0 Iona run with two five-meter penalty scores as the Gaels closed within one 7-6 just 32 seconds later. With five ticks until halftime, Gomez stopped a Seahawks five-meter penalty shot to keep the Gaels within one.
After Wagner opened the third quarter with a goal, Vlasic answered with his third to cut the Seahawks’ edge to one at 8-7 with 1:12 gone. The Seahawk’s answered, but Miller’s third score got Iona back with one at 9-8 with 4:59 to go. Following two straight Wagner goals, Miller buried a five-meter penalty into the back of the net to pull Iona within two at 11-9 with 3:56 on the clock. After Nastic’s man-up score, Vlasic hit his fourth goal to knot the game at 11-all with 1:04 remaining in the third quarter on another 3-0 Gaels run. With 24 seconds left, Bauman lobbed in Iona’s fourth straight goal on a five-meter penalty shot as the Gaels gained a 12-11 lead heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
However, Wagner capitalized on a 6-4 advantage 44 seconds into the fourth quarter to tie the match, then followed with another goal to go back up one 13-12 with 6:33 remaining. A third straight Seahawks’ score restored a two-goal lead at 14-12 at the 4:19 mark.
Iona attempted to fight back as a five-meter penalty goal by Bauman with 1:12 left until the final horn sliced Wagner’s edge back to one at 14-13, but the Seahawks answered 25 seconds later to seal the win.
In Iona’s final match of the day, the Gaels slugged it out with Santa Clara in a contest that featured seven ties and a brief Iona second quarter lead before the Broncos busted out for a 14-11 victory.
Miller led the Gaels with four goals on eight shots, while Vlasic had three scores on nine shots. Bauman made two goals, while senior James DiSalle and sophomore Rasko Jevdjovic tacked on solo markers. The Gaels scored 11 goals on 30 shots with nine assists – including five by Bauman.
In cage, sophomore Aleksandar Slavkovic posted 10 saves on 26 shots with one steal and 14 goals allowed. Senior Diego Gomez notched a pair of saves on two Santa Clara shots and did not permit a score during the third quarter.
On defense, the Gaels made nine steals with three by Miller and blocked five shots. Iona drew six Santa Clara kickouts, while being ejected six times. The Gaels turned the ball over 11 times.
The Broncos scored only 18 seconds into the opening quarter to take a 1-0 lead, but Vlasic answered 1:30 later to tie the match at one-all. After a Broncos’ five-meter penalty score, Bauman knotted the score again at two-all with 4:52 on the clock. Santa Clara retook a one-goal edge at 3-2 with 2:52 remaining in the opening frame, but Vlisac’s second goal with 55 ticks left resulted in three-all tie following eight minutes of action.
After Santa Clara regained a one-goal edge just 23 seconds into the second quarter, Miller retied the game at four-all on Iona’s next trip down the pool. The Broncos scored when Slavkovic was excluded from the net, but two unanswered Gaels’ goals from DiSalle and Bauman put Iona head at 6-5 with 5:08 left until halftime. However, back-to-back Broncos’ blasts pushed Santa Clara in front at 7-6 by the conclusion of the first half.
Jevdovic needed only 35 seconds to tie the match for the seventh time at seven-all, but three straight Broncos goals returned the lead to Santa Clara at 10-7 edge with 4:46 on the third quarter clock.
Vlasic’s third goal pulled Iona back with two at 10-8 with 3:01 left, until Santa Clara answered on its next possession for a 11-8 edge. Miller tapped in a rebound, but the Broncos scored at the other end for a 12-9 advantage with 52 ticks on the clock. Blocking a five-meter penalty shot with 11 seconds left, Slavkovic prevented the Broncos from taking a four-goal lead going into the final eight minutes.
Miller commenced the fourth quarter with his third score to slice the Santa Clara lead back to 12-10. However, the Broncos answered with consecutive scores for a four-goal spread at 14-10 with 4:44 left in regulation. Miller scored his fourth goal with 18 seconds left to shrink the final margin down to three at 14-11.
Despite two disappointing losses against “very good teams”, Iona head coach Brian Kelly was pleased with his squad’s hard-fought effort.
“We had two back-to-back solid games against very good teams,” said Kelly.
“We’re getting very close to being a good team ourselves. “Our goal tending was outstanding in both games, both Diego and Slavke gave us a chance to win each game. Andrew Miller was outstanding in both games. I thought he was one of the best players in the pool today.”
Information courtesy Iona College Athletics Communications
