BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Despite one tie in the opening eight minutes, the Iona University men’s water polo team led the rest of the way by as much as eight goals to earn the Gaels fourth Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) win with a 17-10 victory at Long Island University.
Sophomore Pavle Musikic led the Maroon and Gold with six goals on nine shots, while graduate student Luka Nastic and senior co-captain Rastko Jevdjovic both scored three goals. Senior co-captain Matthew Mischlich added two goals with junior Jayden Arana, sophomore Ryan Tannus and freshman Samson Williams contributing solo markers. The Gaels scored 17 goals on 30 shots with nine assists, including five Jevdjovic.
In goal in the second and fourth quarters, senior Aleksandar Slavkovic had 10 saves on 17 LIU shots, one steal and six goals against. In the first and third quarters, sophomore P.J. Bartzen posted eight saves on 14 LIU shots and four goals against.
On defense, the Gaels made seven steals with two each from Jevdjovic and Mischlich and blocked three shots with a pair by Jevdjovic. Iona drew 13 LIU kickouts with four by Musikic and three by Jevdjovic, including four five-meter penalties, while being ejected 11 times, including two five-meter penalties. Iona scored six goals on 13 man-up chances. The Gaels turned the ball over 10 times. Senior Coby Scanlon won three of four swim offs.
19 seconds into the match, Musikic got Iona on the board first with a five-meter penalty goal for a 1-0 Gaels’ lead. The Sharks answered on their first trip down the pool to tie the game at one with 6:43 to go in the opening frame. Just 14 ticks later, Mischlich put the Gaels back up one, 2-1, followed by Jevdjovic and Nastic on a man-up chance for a three-goal (4-1) Iona edge with 2:46 on clock.
After a Sharks’ score, Arana and Nastic on a five-meter penalty shot gave the Gaels a 6-2 advantage with 1:21 remaining in the quarter. With his second score on a five-meter penalty try, Musikic upped his team’s lead to five at 7-2 with three seconds left. Continuing a 4-0 Gaels’ run, Nastic’s third score put Iona up six 8-2 with 1:13 gone in the second quarter. Back-to-back scores helped the Sharks cut the Gaels lead down to 8-4 with 4:34 remaining in the first half. After Jevdjovic’s second goal, LIU answered to get back within four at 9-5 with 2:17 remaining in the second quarter.
Musikic’s third goal just 10 ticks later restored Iona’s five-score edge at 10-5. LIU trimmed its deficit to 10-6 with 1:53 remaining, but Musikic scored his fourth goal on another five-meter penalty shot 13 seconds later to make it 11-6 at halftime.
With 4:28 left in the third quarter, Musikic struck again on a five-meter penalty chance followed 46 seconds later by Jevdjovic’s third score for a 13-6 scoreboard advantage. After Tannus upped the Iona edge to eight at 14-6, LIU sliced the Gaels’ lead back to seven at 14-7 with 2:11 on the clock. Mischlich’s pumped in another strike, but LIU got back within seven at 15-8 with a five-meter penalty goal at the 1:12 mark. Williams gave Iona an eight-goal/16-8 advantage in the closing seconds of the third quarter as the Gaels continued to pull away.
LIU narrowed the Iona advantage back to seven at 16-9 less than 90 seconds into the fourth quarter. With his seventh score, Musikic increased the Iona margin to 17-9 at the 3:51 mark before the Sharks tossed in a final blow with 2:53 left remaining for the 17-10 final score.
Proud of his team’s performance, Iona head coach Brian Kelly praised their play in all aspects of the game.
“I’m proud of the way that we played together today on both sides of the pool,” said Kelly. “LIU is always a very hostile environment and I thought we controlled the game from the first goal to the last. PJ and Alex set the tone splitting time in goal with 18 saves. Pavle was tremendous in leading the offense.”
Information courtesy Iona University Athletics Communications
