PRINCETON, N.J. — The Iona University men’s water polo team fell to No. 19-ranked Santa Clara University, 16-6, and No. 11 the University of California-San Diego, 23-1, on first day of the 2024 Princeton Invitational hosted by Princeton University at DeNuzio Pool.
Facing Santa Clara, the Gaels were unable to buck the Broncos.
After failing to score in the opening eight minutes, Iona allowed seven straight Santa Clara scores on the way to a 10- goal loss.
Freshman Pavle Musikic led the Maroon and Gold with two goals on nine shots. Graduate tri-captain Mohamed Refaat, graduate tri-captain Trippe Bauman, graduate student James DiSalle and senior tri-captain Luksa Vlasic each scored one goal as the Gaels scored six goals on 35 shots on four assists.
In goal, junior Aleksandar Slavkovic had 11 saves on 28 Broncos’ shots, made five steals and had 16 goals against. Sophomore Orlando Hernandez faced one Santa Clara shot in the opening minutes.
On defense, Vlasic blocked two Santa Clara shots. The Gaels made ten steals with two each by Refaat and Bauman. Iona drew eight Broncos kickouts with five by Musikic. The team added three five-meter penalties drawn, while being ejected 12 times with one five-meter penalty. Junior Rastko Jevdjovic and Musikic were disqualified. Iona did not score on four man-up chances, while Santa Clara had one goal on seven opportunities. The Gaels turned the ball over nine times.
With 43 seconds gone in the opening quarter, the Broncos struck first, then scored on their next two possessions for 3-0 lead with 5:18 left. Hitting a five-meter penalty goal, Santa Clara went up four 4-0 with 3:43 on the clock. In the closing 2:22, the Broncos tacked on three straight scores to go up seven 7-0 going into the second period. Iona failed to score in the first eight minutes.
In the second quarter, Iona outscored Santa Clara 3-2. Refaat got the Gaels on the board with 1:26 gone. Following another Broncos score, Bauman sliced the Santa Clara edge to six at 8-2. Musikic found the back of the net, after missing a five-meter penalty shot, to pull the Gaels within five 8-3 with 5:14 left, but Santa Clara tacked on another score with 2:49 remaining for a 9-3 halftime lead.
Following two straight Santa Clara scores, Bauman missed a five-meter penalty shot, but Vlasic ended the Iona offensive drought to chop the Broncos’ edge back to seven at 11-4 with 2:32 left in the third quarter. After another Santa Clara goal, Musikic’s second score at the 1:47 mark trimmed the Broncos’ lead to 12-5 heading into the fourth quarter.
Following back-to-back-to-back strikes by Santa Clara to acquire a 15-5 margin, DiSalle answered with 3:48 remaining to cut the Broncos advantage back to nine at 15-6. A Santa Clara score with 1:31 left on the clock sealed the 16-6 win.
Despite UC-San Diego midway through the first quarter via a score by Refaat off an an assist by Vlasic, Iona did not manage another goal for the rest of the match in falling to the Tritons.
In goal, Slavkovic had ten saves on 26 Tritons’ shots, made two steals and had 16 goals against. In the fourth quarter, freshman Eric Caplener made one save on eight Tritons shots and had seven goals against.
On defense, the Gaels blocked three UC San Diego shots with two by sophomore Matthew Mischlich. The Gaels made six steals with two by Vlasic. Iona drew 11 Tritons kickouts with pairs by junior Coby Scanlon, Jevdjovic and Musikic, while being ejected 14 times with a quintet of five-meter penalties. Musikic was disqualified in the second quarter.
The Gaels turned the ball over 11 times and won two-of-four swim-offs.
The Tritons needed just 1:43 into the first quarter to get on the board courtesy a man-up goal, but Refaat did the same to knot the game at one-all with 4:29 left on the clock. With three unanswered scores, UC-San Diego took a three-goal edge at 4-1 with 1:05 remaining on the scoreboard.
A five-meter penalty goal with 34 ticks into the second quarter upped the Triton edge to five at 6-1. Continuing a six-goal run, UC-San Diego tacked on two more scores, including a five-meter penalty goal, to go up 7-1 with 3:44 on the clock. Two more unanswered goals in the closing 1:14, including a two-second buzzer beater, gave the Tritons a 9-1 halftime lead. The Gaels failed to score in the second quarter.
With seven straight goals, UC-San Diego pulled ahead 16-1 in the third quarter prior to tacking on seven final strikes in the fourth quarter, including a pair of five-meter penalty scores, to wrap-up the win versus Iona.
Information courtesy Iona University Athletics Communications
