Utica, NY - The Iona College women's water polo team entered another tournament and stormed their way to the championships. The Gaels took on No. 17 Hartwick on Friday and fought hard, but fell 20-16. The Maroon and Gold rallied from the loss to run through Slippery Rock, Gannon and Boston College
to face Notre Dame in the Utica Invitational Final and win the tournament with a 7-6 win.
Against Hartwick, Head Coach Brian Kelly said that it was "one of the best games we played all year." The Gaels (8-9) trailed by just one after the first quarter and were down by five at the half. The Hawks(11-7) held a five goal advantage heading into the final quarter and took a 20-16 win. Iona missed three penalty shots in the loss. Lauren Peterson led the Gaels with five goals and four assists, Amanda Brucia netted four goals and had four assists and Maggie Wood also had four goals, an assist and drew two kickouts. Amanda Cody had a goal, an assist, four kickouts drawn and took two penalty shots and Meghan Keller had a goal and assist. Kathleen Link had nine saves and five steals.
The Maroon and Gold quickly bounced back as they took on Slippery Rock in the opening game of the Utica Invitational on Saturday. The Gaels quickly jumped out and downed the Rock (0-7) 15-2. Brucia put up four goals and four assists and Keller added a goal and four assists. Peterson had a goal and two assists and rookies Amanda Anastasio, Sam Cody and Mollie Regan each netted two goals and an assist. Megan Byrnes had a goal and two assists and Stephanie Klocke rounded out the scoring with a goal and two kickouts drawn. Link stopped 13 shots and blocked a penalty shot in the win.
Iona entered the pool again later in the day against Boston College and showed no signs of fatigue taking the win, 14-4. "Five games is a lot to ask especially coming off seven games in four days," said Kelly. "We had no practice this week either because of pool problems and though we were rusty, I'm proud of the way we played and executed." The Gaels executed offensively and Wood netted three goals to lead the team and put up one assist and one kickout drawn. Byrnes had two goals, an assist and three steals while Keller, Amanda Cody and Anastasio each had a pair of goals. Peterson and Alicia Keating netted a goal each, Kerby Lewis scored her first goal as a Gael and Amanda Brucia had an assist. Link put up another stellar performance stopping 11 Eagles' shots.
The Gaels picked up their third victory of the day against Gannon, a team it defeated 20-8 on its way to winning the Siena Invitational, and took a 9-7 win. After trailing 2-1 after the first quarter, Iona tied the score 4-4 at halftime and outscored the Golden Knights (5-11) five to three to win 9-7. Peterson's weekend continued to be strong with two goals, four assists and four kickouts drawn. Amanda Cody had two goals, four kickouts drawn and three steals, Wood netted two goals, had an assist, a steal and drew two kickouts. Anastasio and Klocke each had a goal and Brucia had a goal, a kickout drawn and three steals. "We had a greater commitment to defense," commented Kelly. "We know teams won't to score on us unless we make a mistake. [Iona] got the scoring from everyone and though we have three more scorers, our bench is getting timely goals."
On Sunday, the Maroon and Gold closed out the weekend with a 7-6 victory over Notre Dame. Link was the catalyst stopping 11 shot and grabbing four steals. Amanda Brucia lead the Gaels with four goals, five steals and one kickout drawn. Keller had a goal and a field block, Wood added a goal, three steals and a kickout drawn, and Amanda Cody rounded out the scoring with a goal, a kickout drawn and two steals. Anastasio had three steals and Peterson added two takeaways in the victory.
The Gaels return the pool after a long weekend and will face Queens College in Queens on Wednesday, March 19 at 7:30pm.
