ANNAPOLIS, Md. — After earning its second season win with an 18-12 victory over Salem University, the Iona University men’s water polo team fell 18-13 to Division III No. 5-ranked Johns Hopkins University on the final day of the 2026 Navy Open hosted by the United States Naval Academy.
After a seesaw first half featuring seven ties and six lead changes, Iona outscored Salem 9-3 in the second half to take down the Tigers.
Junior co-captain Pavle Musikic led the Maroon and Gold with seven goals on nine shots, while freshman Christian Couch scored three goals on five shots. Junior Daniel Raz and freshman Charlie Harbour had two scores each, while junior Hugh Coyle, junior Ryan Tannus, freshman Logan Hardel and freshman Jack Robison added one goal apiece.
In goal, sophomore Kyle Chin Lee had nine saves on 27 Tigers’ shots, including a five-meter penalty shot, with 12 goals against.
The Gaels scored 18 goals on 30 shots and made 11 assists, with four from Robison and three from junior co-captain Brett Grady. On defense, Iona made three steals and blocked seven shots, with two by junior Samson Williams. The Gaels drew 12 Tigers’ kickouts, with three each by Musikic and Couch, including five five-meter penalties, while being ejected 10 times, including three five-meter penalties. Raz and Harbour were disqualified. Iona committed eight turnovers. The Gaels scored six man-up goals on 12 chances, while Salem had two goals on nine man-up opportunities. Grady won three of four swim-offs.
With 28 seconds gone in the match, Musikic put Iona up one, 1-0, but Salem answered with a five-meter penalty goal to tie the game at one-all with 5:32 left in the opening quarter. The Tigers went up one, 2-1, with 3:55 to go. Raz capitalized on a six-on-five chance to knot the score at two-all with 2:19 left in the frame. Two straight Iona five-meter penalty goals by Musikic and Raz built a two-score edge, 4-2, at the 1:04 mark. Ending a 3-0 Gaels’ run with 41 ticks left, the Tigers pulled within one, 4-3, going into the second period.
Continuing a 3-0 rally, two consecutive six-on-five Tigers’ scores gave Salem a 5-4 lead with 1:02 gone in the second quarter, then Lee blocked a five-meter penalty shot. Following a Salem man-up goal, Musikic’s second score pulled Iona within one, 6-5, then Couch knotted the game at six-all with 4:10 remaining. After Salem retook the lead at 7-6, two straight Iona goals by Couch and Tannus restored a one score lead at 8-7 with 2:33 left until halftime. Salem retied the game for the sixth time at eight-all, then Harbour put Iona back up one, 9-8, with 1:34 left. With two ticks until halftime, the Tigers rebalanced the scoreboard at nine-all.
The Gaels opened the second half with two straight goals from Coyle and Hardel for an 11-9 lead with 1:06 gone in the third quarter. Salem answered with a five-meter penalty goal, then Harbour’s second goal put Iona up two at 12-10. A man-up Tigers’ goal sliced the Gaels’ advantage back to one, 12-11, but Musikic’s fourth score put Iona back up two, 13-11, with 1:40 left. Just 41 ticks later, another Salem man-up score trimmed the Iona edge back to one, 13-12, then Couch’s hat-trick goal gave Iona a two-goal margin, 14-12, going into the final eight minutes of regulation.
Two straight Musikic goals, including a five-meter penalty score, upped the Iona edge to four, 16-12, with 5:49 to go in the fourth quarter. On his seventh goal of the game and third of the quarter, Musikic buried another five-meter penalty shot for a 17-12 Iona edge with 4:26 left on the clock. Continuing a 5-0 Gaels’ run, Robison upped the Iona advantage to six, 18-12, with 3:38 remaining in regulation as Salem did not score in the fourth quarter.
Down by just two goals at the end of the first quarter, the Gaels failed to rally in the final 24 minutes of competition in taking an 18-13 loss to Johns Hopkins.
Musikic, sophomore Toni Vlasic, Williams, Couch and Harbour led the Maroon and Gold with two goals each, while Coyle, Robison and freshman Tate Wilson added one goal apiece. In cage, Lee had four saves on 28 Blue Jays’ shots and two steals with 18 goals against.
The Gaels scored 13 goals on 31 shots and made 11 assists, with three from Vlasic and two each from Robison and Wilson. The Gaels drew 14 Blue Jays’ kickouts, with four by Musikic and two each from Couch, Harbour and Wilson, including three five-meter penalties, while being ejected ten times, including three five-meter penalties. Iona committed six turnovers. The Gaels scored five man-up goals on 14 chances, while Johns Hopkins had four goals on seven man-up opportunities. Grady won three swim-offs and sophomore Colin Minehan won one of four swim-offs.
Neither squad scored until Johns Hopkins got on the board for a 1-0 lead with 1:53 gone in the match. Musikic tied the game at one-all on a five-meter penalty goal during the Gaels’ next possession 45 seconds later. Three straight Blue Jays’ goals put Johns Hopkins up three, 4-1, with 2:27 left in the opening frame. The Gaels answered with two consecutive scores from Robison and Coyle to slice the Blue Jays’ lead back to one, 4-3, then a Johns Hopkins’ goal restored a two-score, 5-3, edge with 1:05 to go.
With 43 ticks gone in the second period, Johns Hopkins went back up three, 6-3. Couch answered to pull Iona back within 6-4, but three straight Blue Jays’ goals resulted in a five-score, 9-4, Johns Hopkins’ advantage with 2:03 left. Musikic’s second score cut the Blue Jays’ edge back to four just 12 seconds later, then Johns Hopkins struck with nine ticks on the clock for a 10-5 halftime lead.
After Johns Hopkins opened the second half with a five-meter penalty goal, Harbour scooped up a loose ball in front of the goal to get Iona within 11-6 with 6:12 left in the third quarter. The Blue Jays answered, then three straight Gaels’ goals from Couch, Vlasic and Williams sliced the Johns Hopkins’ advantage back to three at 12-9 with 1:44 on the clock. However, a pair of markers in the final 1:23 of the frame allowed JHU to acquire a five-goal edge at 14-9 through 24 minutes of play.
On a 4-0 run, Johns Hopkins went up seven, 16-9, with 5:09 on the clock in the fourth quarter. Vlasic’s second score cut the Blue Jays’ edge back to six, 16-10, at the 4:32 mark. After Musikic missed his second five-meter penalty shot, the Blue Jays went 17-10 with 3:51 to play. Couch’s second goal pulled Iona within six before Johns Hopkins answered for an 18-11 advantage with 1:23 left on the clock. Two more Gaels’ goals from Williams and Wilson, the first of Wilson’s Iona career, in the final minute sliced the Johns Hopkins edge to five at 18-13 prior to the final horn.
Information courtesy Iona University Athletics Communications
