NEW LONDON, Conn. — Iona University picked up a pair of non-conference victories by taking down Division III No. 9-ranked Johns Hopkins University, 19-12, prior to claiming a 24-13 victory over host Connecticut College at the Jane Cadwell Lott Natatorium.
Mounting a 6-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, Iona led by as much as six goals in downing Johns Hopkins.
Freshman Pavle Musikic led the Maroon and Gold with eight goals, while junior Rastko Jevdjovic had three tallies. Graduate student Trippe Bauman, senior Luksa Vlasic and sophomore Matthew Mischlich scored two goals each. Graduate student Mohamed Refaat and freshman Hugh Coyle added one score apiece. The Gaels scored 19 goals on 31 shots and made 13 assists with three each Jevdjovic and Vlasic.
In goal, sophomore Orlando Hernandez had 13 saves on 26 Blue Jays’ shots, including blocking a five-meter penalty shot, made one steal and had 12 goals against. On defense, the Gaels made 12 steals with three by Jevdjovic and blocked two shots. Iona drew six Tigers kickouts with four by Musikic, including one five-meter penalty, while being ejected 12 times, including one five-meter penalty. Iona scored five goals on seven man-up chances, while Johns Hopkins had seven goals on 13 opportunities. The Gaels turned the ball over 23 times. Scanlon won all four swim offs.
In the opening 1:08, Musikic scored two straight goals for a 2-0 Iona edge. Mischlich found the back of the net to put Iona up three 3-0, but Johns Hopkins answered on its next chance to cut the Gaels edge to two 3-1 with 3:56 left in the opening quarter. After the teams traded goals with Musikic recording a first-period hat trick, Coyle restored a three-score Iona lead with 2:10 remaining. With eight ticks left, Bauman buried a five-meter penalty shot to up the Gaels edge to four 6-2 going into the second quarter.
After Jevdjovic’s goal opened the second quarter, the Blue Jays scored on a man-up chance to pull within four 7-3 with 6:33 to go. Musikic’s fourth score restored Iona’s five-goal cushion 8-3, but Johns Hopkins answered with another man-up score to trim the Gaels lead back to four 8-4 at the 5:44 mark. The Blue Jays followed Musikic’s fifth goal with three straight scores to get within two 9-7 with 1:31 on the clock. With 1:08 to go, Jevdjovic’s second goal put Iona back up three 10-7 at intermission.
Four consecutive Iona scores from Mischlich, Musikic and two by Vlasic gave the Gaels a 14-7 advantage with 3:55 left in the third quarter. Following Hernandez blocking a five-meter penalty shot, the Blue Jays scored twice to pull back within five at 14-9 with 3:02 to go. After Bauman’s second goal, Johns Hopkins trimmed the Iona margin back to five with 1:26 on the clock. With 57 ticks left, Jevdjovic’s hat-trick goal restored a six-score 16-10 Gaels lead going into the fourth quarter.
Just 29 seconds into the final eight minutes, a Johns Hopkins man-up goal trimmed the Iona lead back to five at 16-11. After two Gaels’ goals from Refaat and Musikic, the Blue Jays capitalized on a man-up chance to get within six at 18-12 with 2:55 remaining. With 45 ticks left, Musikic’s eighth goal sealed the 19-12 win.
Back in the pool only an hour after defeating Johns Hopkins, the Iona offense struggled in the first half, then took off on a seven-goal run which resulted in a double-digit fourth quarter lead in a 24-13 win over host Connecticut College.
Sophomore Jayden Arana led the Maroon and Gold with five goals on five shots, while Vlasic and Musikic had four goals each. Refaat scored three goals and Jevdjovic had two. Bauman, senior Schuyler Newberger, freshman John Barrett, freshman Roberto Perez-Puente, freshman Daniel Raz and freshman Ryan Tannis scored one goal apiece. The Gaels scored 24 goals on 42 shots and made 17 assists with three by Vlasic.
In goal during the first half, freshman Eric Capiener had two saves on 12 Camels’ shots, and had six goals against. In the second half, freshman P.J Bartzen had five saves on 15 Connecticut shots, made two steals, one assist and had seven goals against.
On defense, the Gaels made 21 steals with seven by Refaat and five by Jevdjovic and blocked two Camels’ shots. Iona drew five Camels’ kickouts, including two five-meter penalties, while being ejected five times with two five-meter penalties. Iona scored five goals on six man-up chances, while Connecticut did not score on five opportunities. The Gaels turned the ball over 14 times. Iona won two of four swim offs.
With 58 ticks gone in the match, Musikic got on the board first, but the hosts answered on a five-meter penalty shot with 5:09 remaining to tie the game at one each. Two straight Gaels’ goals from Vlasic and Bauman gave Iona a two-goal 3-1 edge with 4:12 on the clock. Connecticut answered with two consecutive scores to retie the score at three each, but Musikic restored a one-goal at 4-3 with 55 seconds left in the opening eight minutes.
After Jevdjovic put Iona back up two 5-3, Connecticut scored on its next chance to get within one at 5-4 with 5:36 to go in the second quarter. Two more Gaels’ goals by Arana and Musikic restored a three-goal edge until the hosts answered with two goals of their own to slice the Iona lead back to one at 7-6 with 2:55 on the clock. In the closing 1:20, Iona mounted a 3-0 quarter-ending run with goals from Arana, Musikic and Refaat for a 10-6 halftime advantage.
Just 1:43 into the third quarter, Refaat scored two second straight goals followed by Vlasic’s second for a 12-6 Gaels’ advantage with 5:50 remaining in the frame. Continuing a 7-0 Iona run, Vlasic struck again to increase the margin to 13-6 just 1:10 later. Connecticut responded with two straight scores to cut Iona’s advantage back to five 13-8 at the 3:16 mark. Vlasic and Jevdjovic answered with two more goals which restored a seven-score/15-8 margin with 1:51 left on the clock.
Refaat tacked on two more goals in the opening 1:28 of the fourth quarter, then the Camels cut the Gaels’ edge to eight at 17-9 with 6:26 left in regulation. Barrett’s first Gaels’ goal followed by Arana gave Iona a 19-9 edge until the hosts scored with 4:27 left to cut the Gaels lead to nine at 19-10. The teams swapped goals with Arana notching his fourth score for a 20-10 Iona lead with 3:20 remaining in the contest. The goal trading continued into the final three minutes with Perez-Puente scoring his first Iona goal, followed by Raz, Tannis and Newberger to seal the 24-13 win.
Release courtesy Iona University Athletics Communications
