PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Jack French (So., Brisbane, Australia/St. Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace) and Mark Malamud (Fr., Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) tallied seven and five goals, respectively, to share Player of the Game notice and combine for 12 of Long Island University’s 16 total tallies as the Sharks outlasted Iona University, 16-15, in the 2025 Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Championship Fifth Place game.
Competing at Brown University’s Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center, LIU (5-26) never trailed in upending Iona (8-18) for the first time in 2025 following 18-14 (October 12 at Iona) and 17-10 (November 2 at Long Island) losses. Further, the Fifth Place finish marks the highest mark achieved by the Sharks at the NWPC Championship in program history following prior Sixth Place finishes in both 2023 and 2024.
Iona – which placed Fourth (2023, 2024), Fifth (2016, 2017, 2021, 2022) and Sixth (2018, 2019) in the prior NWPC Championships – fell behind midway through the first quarter as Malamud converted man-up (4:38) and penalty shot (4:00) chances to stake Long Island to a 2-0 lead.
Pavle Musikic (So., Belgrade, Serbia/Sportska Gimnazija) trimmed the Gaels’ deficit at 3:27 with a natural marker, but Malamud (1:44, man-up) and Edward Carpenter (Fr., Bedford, England/Bedford Modern) (47 seconds) built the Sharks’ margin to 4-1 prior to the first quarter’s concluding horn.
Long Island continued its offensive onslaught in the opening moments of the second quarter as Francisco de Zengotita Rodriguez (Fr., Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Jose) (7:00) and Malamud (6:39, man-up) flushed shots to make it a 6-1 game. Luka Nastic (Gr., Chicago, Ill./Crnjanski Gimnazija (Serbia)) snapped LIU’s 4-0 outburst by banging a shot into the twine at 6:25 and French responded at 5:30 prior to Rastko Jevdjovic (Sr., Belgrade, Serbia/Third Belgrade Grammar School) (4:07), Ryan Tannus (So., Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips) (1:10) and Matt Mischlich (Sr., Houston, Texas/Strake Jesuit College Prep) (35 seconds, penalty shot) ticking off a trio of tallies for Iona to close the gap to 7-5 heading into halftime.
Mischlich struck again 18 seconds into the third quarter to put the Gaels on the cusp of knotting the score at 7-6. A 3-0 run by Long Island provided the Sharks some breathing room as Derek Hanel (Sr., San Jose, Calif./Saint Francis) (6:52, man-up), Malamud (6:10, man-up) and Dylan Rothenberg (Fr., Costa Mesa, Calif./Foothill) (4:38) padded their team’s lead to 10-6.
Musikic trimmed Iona’s deficit to 10-7 via a penalty shot at 4:26 before French found the cage with man-up (3:41) and natural (2:59) liners in returning LIU’s lead to five at 12-7. Jayden Arana (Jr., Freeport, Texas/Brazoswood) terminated the third quarter with a man-up score at the 17 seconds mark as Iona chipped its deficit back to four at 12-8 heading into the decisive fourth quarter.
Jevdjovic (7:02, man-up; 5:49) and Mischlich (6:35) ticked off back-to-back-to-back goals in the first 95 seconds of the fourth quarter to erase the majority of Long Island’s scoreboard advantage and put Iona on the brink of tying the game at 12-11.
French made it 13-11 at 5:30, Arana answered for Iona (5:16) and French struck again (4:35) to keep the Sharks ahead at 14-12. Arana (4:25) and Hugh Coyle (So., Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) (3:38, man-up) erased the Gaels’ deficit to tie the game at 14-all and turn the momentum in favor of Iona.
However, the tides shifted back in favor of the Sharks as French forced home back-to-back even-strength opportunities at 1:38 and 1:12 to put Long Island back in front at 16-14. The goals proved too much for the Gaels to overcome in the closing minute of the contest as the Gaels mustered a man-up marker by Tannus (35 seconds) and nothing more in falling to Long Island.
For Iona, Arana (three), Jevdjovic (three) and Mischlich (three) finished with hat-tricks, while Tannus and Musikic deposited pairs of goals. Nastic and Coyle each chipped in solo markers.
Across the tank, French (seven) and Malamud (five) were the multi-goal scorers for LIU with Carpenter, de Zengotita Rodriguez and Hanel contributing single strikes.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Long Island University | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | – | 16 |
| Iona University | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 | – | 15 |
| Iona Goals: | Jayden Arana (3); Rastko Jevdjovic (3); Matthew Mischlich (3); Ryan Tannus (2); Pavle Musikic (2); Luka Nastic; Hugh Coyle | |||||
| LIU Goals: | Jack French (7); Mark Malamud (5); Dylan Rothenberg; Edward Carpenter; Francisco de Zengotita Rodriguez; Derek Hanel | |||||
| Exclusions: | Iona – 14 ; LIU – 19 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Iona – 6-for-19 ; LIU – 7-for-14 | |||||
| Sprints: | Iona – 1-for-4 (1st, 3rd, 4th) ; LIU – 1-for-4 (2nd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | RC – LIU (Lucas Ramirez, 4:26 left in 3rd Q); RC – Iona (Pavle Musikic, 2:59 left in 3rd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Alex Stankevitch, Stephanie Villalobos | |||||
Long Island University’s Blake Duggan (#11)
Iona University’s Luka Nastic (#10) attempts to elude Long Island University’s Mark Malamud (#13)
Long Island University’s Dylan Rothenberg (#12)
