NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona College women’s water polo team posted a 2-1 mark over three games held at a pair of venues. The Gaels opened the day with a pair of victories at the Villanova Invitational, before suffering a 22-10 setback to No. 19 Hartwick at Marist College.
With nine players hitting the back of the net, the Gaels cruised to their third win of the weekend at the Villanova Invitational with a 15-6 victory over Mercyhurst in the first game of the day.
Freshman Hannah Schultz led the Gaels with six goals and freshman Paige Neary scored two. Senior Monica Stiles, senior Jordan Carmody, junior Dana Andrea, junior Meghan Mahoney, junior Sara Bortz, sophomore Darby Nevins and freshman Kayla Allen had one goal each
On defense, the Gaels had 14 steals with five by Bortz and four by sophomore Rebecca Koshy. Iona scored on four five-meter penalty shots, and forced 12 ejections with five by Schultz and three by junior Taylor Silva.
Junior goalie Dana Delucchi recorded six saves in the first three periods, while freshman goal Britten Vilander had two in the fourth.
Just 37 seconds into the match, Andrea put Iona on the board, followed by two consecutive Schultz goals to give the Gaels a 3-0 lead with 6:20 left in the first period. Mercyhurst scored on a five-meter penalty shot, but Schultz answered with her third goal for a 4-1 Iona edge. The Lakers scored with 37 ticks left in the opening period, then Carmody put Iona up 5-2.
Schultz opened the second quarter by scoring on a five-meter penalty, but Mercyhurst trimmed the Iona edge to 6-3 with 6:28 left. Four straight Iona scores by Bortz, Mahoney, Nevins and Schultz put the Gaels up 10-3 at halftime.
In the third period, Stiles and Schultz scored to give Iona a 12-3 advantage going into the final quarter. Both teams scored three times in the fourth with one goal from Allen and two from Neary for the Gaels.
After trailing briefly in the opening quarter, the Gaels picked up a 15-2 win over Washington & Jefferson later in the day.
Schultz and Neary led the Gaels with three scores each, while Andrea and Nevin had two goals apiece. Silva, junior Rebecca Mathews, freshman Karli Normand, and freshman Megan Hofer had one goal each.
Freshman goalie Vilander recorded eight saves and blocked a Presidents’ five-meter penalty shot, while senior goalie Devin Green, including a last-second block of a sure goal.
In the opening minutes, Washington & Jefferson struck first, but Matthews tied the game at one. The Presidents pulled ahead 2-1, then Neary’s score retied the match at two with 3:24 left in the first period. After Washington & Jefferson missed a five-meter penalty shot, Schultz gave Iona the lead 3-2 as the quarter ended.
As the defense held the Presidents scoreless in the second quarter, three unanswered second-period Gael goals by Nevins, Schultz and Neary gave Iona a 6-2 advantage at halftime,
In the third period, the Gaels hit five consecutive goals by Mahoney, Schultz, Silva, and two from Andrea, as Washington & Jefferson failed to score, and Iona led 11-2 entering the final quarter.
Against Hartwick, Mahoney, Koshy and Nearyled the Gaels with two goals each. Carmody, Silva, Allen and Schultz scored one goal each.
Three goalies played in the net during the loss – Greene with three saves, Delucchi with two saves and Vilander with one save.
After Schultz put Iona on the board with 37 seconds gone in the match, Hartwick hit four straight goals. Neary’s five-meter penalty shot narrowed the gap to 4-2, the closest the Gaels would get in the match. Hartwick scored twice to lead 7-2.
Although the Gaels got goals from Mahoney, Neary, Carmody and Koshy in the second, Hartwick managed a 11-6 lead at halftime. In the third period, Hartwick held Iona scoreless until Koshy’s last second goal and led 17-7 going into the final period. Schultz was disqualified with three ejections with 1:48 left in the third.
The Gaels rallied in the fourth with Allen, Mahoney and Silva scoring, but fell short as Hartwick answered with four more scores.
