NEW ROCHELLE, NY — After having its opening match against George Washington University interrupted by weather, the Iona women’s water polo team lost a battle for the number twenty-two national ranking, 15-8, to host California Baptist University in the second of four matches this weekend at the 2016 Lancer Invitation.
In this week’s College Water Polo Association national poll, CBU and Iona, helped by last Saturday’s upset of number-eleven Hartwick College, shared the twenty-second position.
In an outdoor game on a rare windy and chilly Southern California evening, sophomore Hannah Schultz led the Gaels with five goals, while junior Rebecca Koshy had two scores, and senior Meghan Mahoney added one goal.
In the goal, freshman Jordin Hale had no saves, sophomore Britten Vilander had seven saves, and freshman Andrea Guerra had one save. On defense, the Gaels made five steals and two blocks, while drawing six Lancer kickouts.
After neither squad scored on their first two possessions, they traded goals for most of the opening period with Schultz scoring thrice. The Lancers got on the board first with 2:22 gone in the match. Schultz answered 16 seconds later to tie the match at one. The hosts retook the lead 2-1 with 5:04 on the clock, until Schultz retied the score at two 27 ticks later.
Cal Baptist answered on its next trip down the pool, then Mahoney’s five-meter penalty shot tied the score at three with 2:30 left. The Lancers hit two unanswered scores to pull ahead 5-3 at the 1:24 mark. With 18 seconds remaining, Schultz hit her third goal with CBU’s goalie ejection, but the Lancers scored with two seconds left to lead 6-4.
With Vilander replacing Hale in the Gael goal, CBU needed only 17 seconds into the second period to increase its lead to 7-4. There was no scoring for the next 3:44, until Schultz’s fourth score got Iona within two 7-5 with 3:59 left in the first half. A Lancer five-meter penalty shot with 1:46 remaining gave the hosts an 8-5 edge at intermission.
After a strong first half, the Gaels were outscored 6-1 in the third period. Hitting two unanswered goals in the opening 1:31, the Lancers upped their lead to 10-5 with 6:29 remaining. On Iona’s next possession, Schultz skipped in a five-meter penalty shot to pull the Gaels within four 10-6. In the next two minutes, CBU hit four unanswered goals for a 14-6 lead with 3:50 left in the third period.
Iona outscored CBU 2-1 in the fourth quarter with Koshy’s two goals in the final three minutes.
The Gaels first match this afternoon against George Washington University was halted by heavy rain and winds in the third period with the Colonials leading 6-3. The match will be resumed tomorrow afternoon.
On Saturday, in addition to finishing the interrupted match with George Washington, the Gaels face LaVerne University at 9 a.m. PT/noon ET, and Clairmont-Mudd-Scripps University at 2:30 p.m. PT/5:30 p.m. ET, before heading home Sunday afternoon.