POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - The Iona College women's water polo team resumed early season action Sunday afternoon with a pair of contests at the Marist Invitational. In game one, the Gaels fell to 14th ranked Hartwick by a score of 20-12. In game two, the Gaels responded with a 12-5 victory over Boston University's club team.

In game one, the Gaels stayed close throughout, trailing only by three at half. Hartwick outscored the Gaels 11-6 in the second half to earn the 20-12 victory. Senior Maggie Wood led Iona with four goals and drew three kickouts. A pair of rookies had multi-goal games as Amy Olsen had three tallies and Erika Lauraitis had two goals and a steal. Sophomores Lauren Scheetz and Alyssa Turza and had the final Iona goals. Senior Kathleen Link made six saves in net for Iona in three quarters of play before Marisa Gaynor had three saves in the final quarter.

Against Boston University, the Gaels used strong defense and a seven goal first quarter to lead throughout the contest. Shelton and Scheetz each had three goals for the Gaels with Wood scoring two, including a five meter goal. Olsen had two goals and Lauraitis added a tally while freshman Hannah Cross found the net once for Iona.  Sophomore Juliana Kiesselbach had six saves, two steals and two field blocks for the Gaels.

"We've been without a full squad for the first two tournaments," said coach Brian Kelly. "It has allowed our reserves to get plenty of minutes against quality opponents, which will be of great value throughout the season."

Iona returns to the water Saturday when they travel to Lewisburg, PA for the ECAC Championships. The Gaels open the tournament with a matchup with Bucknell at 12:00 pm.