NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona University men’s water polo knocked off Long Island University, 18-14, in Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) action prior to cutting down Connecticut College, 21-9, in a non-conference meeting at home in the Hynes Center to complete the Gaels’ 2025 home schedule.
Facing Long Island in the first game of the day, Iona built a 10-goal third-quarter lead. The Gaels allowed seven straight Sharks’ scores as LIU chipped its deficit down to a pair of markers with 2:18 left in the match, before Iona rallied to hold on for an 18-14 courtesy two last-minute tallies.
Graduate student Luka Nastic led the Maroon and Gold with five goals, including two win-sealing scores in the final minute, on eight shots, while sophomore Pavle Musikic scored four goals on six shots. Senior Coby Scanlon and junior Jayden Arana added three goals each, senior co-captain Matthew Mischlich chipped in a pair and junior Hugh Coyle posted a solo score.
The Gaels scored 18 goals on 36 shots on 12 assists with four from senior Rastko Jevdjovic and two each from Nastic, Scanlon and junior Zachary McAllister-Sim.
In goal, senior Alexsandar Slavkovic had seven saves on 30 Sharks’ shots, including a five-meter penalty block, four steals and had 14 goals against.
On defense, Iona blocked three shots. The Gaels made 13 steals with three each by Mischlich and graduate student Edward Imm. Iona drew 21 LIU kickouts with eight by Musikic and four by Jevdjovic, and drew two five-meter penalty shots, while being ejected 12 times with two five-meter penalties. Scanlon and Musikic were disqualified with three ejections each. The Gaels turned the ball over 14 times. Scanlon won all four swim offs. Iona scored four goals on 18 man-up chances, while LIU had two man-up goal on six chances.
Scanlon needed only 29 seconds into the match to put the Gaels up 1-0. Mischlich followed to give Iona a 2-0 edge, but LIU answered with 5:04 to go. On Iona’s next trip down the pool, Musikic restored a two-goal advantage at 3-1. With 50 ticks left in the first quarter, the Sharks answered to cut the Gaels’ edge back to two at 4-2.
In the second quarter, Iona outscored LIU 7-2. After Musikic took advantage of a man-up chance, LIU scored a five-meter penalty goal to slice the Gaels’ lead to 5-3 with 4:50 remaining in the frame. After Slavkovic blocked a LIU five-meter penalty try, two straight scores from Scanlon built a four-goal home margin at 7-3 with 3:32 remaining until halftime. Continuing a five-goal run, Arana found the back of the net twice as Iona lead by five at 8-3 with 1:55 left on the first half clock.
After LIU responded, the Gaels ended the first half with two more scores for an 11-4 lead at intermission.
Neither squad scored in the third quarter until Nastic gave Iona an eight-goal, 12-4 cushion with 5:01 remaining. On a 4-0 run from the second quarter, Arana’s third score created a 13-4 home margin with 2:22 on the clock. Just 17 ticks later, Nastic’s second goal on a five-meter penalty shot put Iona up 14-4. In the closing 1:44, two unanswered LIU goals chopped the Iona lead back to eight at 14-6 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
LIU opened the fourth quarter with three more unanswered goals to continue a 5-0 run and move within 14-9 with 6:16 on the clock. Continuing a 7-0 rally, the Sharks tacked on three more consecutive scores to pull within 14-11 until Jevdjovic and Mischlich ended the Gaels’ offensive drought to restore a five-goal edge at 16-11 to play. LIU tallied three straight scores to inch within two at 16-14 with 1:47 left, but Nastic buried a pair of shots in the final 1:01 of action to elude the Sharks.
The Iona offense continued to roll against Connecticut as the Gaels posted a 12-score victory.
After two first quarter ties, the Gaels led by six at halftime, then outscored the Camels by a 13-4 count in the second half.
Mischlich led the Maroon and Gold with four goals on five shots, while Musikic had three goals on seven shots. Sophomores Arana, Brett Grady and Daniel Raz scored two goals each, while Nastic, Imm, freshmen Colin Minehan, Jakob Villasenor and Toni Vlasic swished solo strikes. The Gaels scored 21 goals on 39 shots with seven assists.
In goal, sophomore PJ Bartzen had 16 saves on 39 Camels’ shots and had nine goals against, along with three steals, one assist and scored one goal.
On defense, Iona blocked one shot. The Gaels made 23 steals with five by Grady. Iona drew eight Connecticut kickouts with two each by Mischlich and Musikic and drew three five-meter penalty shots, while being ejected seven times with no five-meter penalties. The Gaels turned the ball over 13 times. Iona won three-of-four swim offs. Iona scored five goals on six man-up chances, while the Camels had two man-up goal on six chances.
With 57 seconds gone in the match, Arana got Iona on the board first, but Connecticut tied the score at one-all just 16 seconds later. Three straight Gaels’ goals from Mischlich, Musikic (five-meter penalty) and Nastic resulted in a 4-1 edge with 4:52 left in the first quarter. But the Camels went on a 3-0 run of their own to tie the match at four-all with 3:38 still on the clock before back-to-back-to-back tallies by Musikic gave Iona a 7-4 edge going into the second quarter.
Continuing a 4-0 Gaels’ run, Imm increased the home lead to four at 8-4 with 26 seconds gone in the second stanza. The Camels answered, but Coyle restored a four-goal edge at 9-5 with 5:48 to go until halftime. After Jevdjovic scored, Coyle added his second goal, then Villasenor tallied his first Iona score to put the home squad up seven at 12-5 with 2:52 on the clock. A Camels’ goal with 1:13 gave the Gaels a 12-6 halftime advantage.
After a Connecticut goal opened the second half, four straight Iona scores from Grady, Raz and two from Mischlich upped the home lead to 16-7 at the 4:09 mark of the third quarter. Raz’s second score with 44 ticks left gave Iona a ten-goal, 17-7 lead, but a Connecticut goal with eight seconds left trimmed the home lead back to nine at 17-8 through 24 minutes of action.
Connecticut scored with 57 gone in the final eight minutes to inch within 17-9 prior to a heave by Minehan restoring a nine-score advantage at 18-9 with 2:08 left until the termination of regulation. Iona sealed the match with three more goals as Barzten, on a full-tank shot, Gardner and Vlasic, all scored their first Gaels’ goals to seal a 21-9 win.
Iona head coach Brian Kelly was pleased with the pair of wins.
“Two good wins today,” said Kelly. “It’s always good to keep the momentum going and extend your winning streak in conference play. Winning at this level is not easy. It was disappointing losing a big lead to LIU and letting them back in the game, however, it allowed players to step up and seize the moment. Rastko and Luka scored when we needed them.”
Information courtesy Iona University Athletics COmmunciations
