PRINCETON, NJ — The Iona College women’s water polo team continued early season non-conference action Saturday with the first day of competition at the Princeton Invitational. The Gaels suffered two setbacks on the day, beginning with a 10-9 loss to Brown before falling to No. 17 Indiana 12-6.
Against the Bears, freshmen Hannah Schultz and Kayla Allen led Iona with four goals each, and junior Sara Bortz hit one. Junior goalie Dana Delucchi recorded three saves in the first half and freshman Britten Vilander had three in the second half. On defense, Allen made four steals and junior Rebecca Mathews had three, while Schultz drew three kickouts.
Brown struck first 2:03 into the match, but Schultz put the Gaels on the board for a 1-1 tie with 4:12 left in the first period. A minute later, Brown retook the lead 2-1, then Allen knotted the game again at two with 2:06. In the final minute of the opening period, Brown hit the back of the net for a 3-2 lead.
Brown scored 1:07 into the second period, but two straight Gael goals within a minute from Allen and Schultz tied the score at four. With 3:21 left in the second, Brown added a five meter penalty goal, then 37 seconds later Schultz retied the game at five on a steal and assist from junior Rebecca Matthews. Brown quickly answered within 18 ticks for a 6-5 halftime lead.
In the third period, Brown increased its lead 7-5 at the 4:31 mark, but Allen trimmed that lead to 7-6 on a 6-on-5 advantage only 26 seconds later. The Bears did the same, however, to go up 8-6 going into the final period.
Even though Brown added a goal with two minutes gone in the fourth, three straight Gael goals from Schultz, Allen and Bortz forced the games fifth tie at nine each with 2:32 left in regulation. But Brown scored 16 seconds later to seal the win.
Despite a strong first half, the Gaels failed to score in the second half in the 12-6 loss to Indiana in the second match of the day.
Schultz led Iona with two goals, while sophomore Darby Nevins, sophomore Rebecca Koshy, junior Meghan Mahoney and Allen scored one each. Delucchi recorded 12 saves. On defense, in addition to winning three swimoffs, junior Dana Andrea had three steals, four blocks and forced four kickouts, while Nevins and Mahoney grabbed two steals each.
On the Gaels opening possession, Schultz found the back of the net just 23 seconds into the match, but the Hoosiers answered 18 ticks later for a 1-1 tie. Iona got two straight goals from Nevins and Allen to go up 3-1 with 5:15 left in the first quarter. Even though Indiana scored 20 seconds later, Mahoney stretched the Iona lead to 4-2 at the 4:05 mark. Indiana, however, hit two unanswered goals to tie the score at four as the first period ended.
Indiana opened the second period with two more consecutive scores to go ahead 6-4 with 4:24 left to halftime. But the Gaels reeled off two straight goals of their own from Schultz and Koshy to tie the game at six with 27 ticks on the clock. But the Hoosiers tipped in a rebound with 12 seconds left for a 7-6 edge at intermission.
The Hoosiers hit two straight goals to pull ahead 9-6 halfway through the third period when Iona head coach Brian Kelly called timeout. Indiana scored again with 20 seconds left to lead 10-6 going into the final quarter.
Twenty-eight seconds into the final period, a Hoosier lob shot put Indiana up 11-6. Indiana hit its sixth unanswered goal to lead 12-6 with 4:05 left in regulation, as the Gaels failed to score in the final two periods.
Although disappointed with two road losses against quality teams, Kelly saw both positive and negative elements in both games.
“Although our goaltending was extremely good to give us a chance to win two games,” Kelly said. “Our offense, however, was very sloppy. We had 24 turnovers in the first game, which is equivalent to turning the ball over for almost a quarter and a half or more.
“We were a little bit better in the second game controlling the ball and taking good shots. And we had a strong first half against one of the better teams in the country. We had a terrible second half with shot selection and Indiana played great defense. We probably took a total of two or three quality shots in the second half.”
Having defeated Harvard 10-8 last Sunday for its first season win, the Gaels will play the Crimson tomorrow at 11:30 am, and host team Princeton at 4:00 pm.