NEW ROCHELLE, NY - A strong goaltending effort and record breaking performance helped push the Iona College women's water polo team to a pair of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victories Saturday afternoon at the Hynes Athletic Center Pool. In game one, the Gaels defeated St. Francis (NY) 14-7 before having to come back from a three goal halftime deficit in a 14-12 win over Wagner.
Against the Terriers, senior
Maggie Wood had four goals, one assist and drew two kickouts. With a second period goal, her third of the game and 300th of her career, she became Iona's all-time leading goal scorer, surpassing the previous record of 299 held by
Amanda Brucia, class of 2009. Junior
Mackenzie Mone had seven points on four goals and three assists for the Maroon & Gold. She contributed on defense with four steals and one field block. Junior
Cecilia Leonard had a goal and two assists to go along with a steal and two drawn kickouts. Freshman
Amy Olsen had three goals, one assist and drew one kickout. On defense, Olsen had two steals. Sophomore
Lauren Scheetz was responsible for the final Iona tally. Sophomore
Alyssa Turza had an assist and a field block while senior
Sam Cody had a steal on defense. Senior
Kathleen Link had nine saves in split time with freshman
Marisa Gaynor, who had six saves, two steals and an assist.
"We played a bit lazy defensively in the first half and thankfully our goaltending was strong," said head coach
Brian Kelly. Our six-on-five was not very good all day, but our defense was solid enough to hold off an always tough St. Francis team."
Leonard had eight points on three goals and five assists in the contest with Wagner. Leonard drew two kickouts and added three steals despite playing in foul trouble throughout the game. Wood had two goals and four assists, as well as two steals and two kickouts drawn. Mone had four goals and two steals. Turza also had four goals, to go along with two steals and two kickouts drawn. Olsen had a goal and a steal to go with two drawn kickouts. Cody had two steals to lead the defense. Link had 11 saves, while Gaynor had seven saves and one steal.
"A tough start, foul trouble and bad six-on-five play led to a horrible first half for us," commented Kelly. "Wagner is a tough team and they make you pay for your mistakes. Fortunately, our goaltending has been awesome all year and today was no different. Link and Gaynor combined for 18 saves which won the game for us. Also, Olsen had a big game in two meter defense, stepping in for Mone and Leonard who were in foul trouble. Cody and
Caitlin McGregor really stepped up with their help defense which led to our comeback."
The Gaels travel to Brooklyn, NY for two more MAAC tilts. At 10:30 am, the Gaels take on Marist before taking on Villanova in the weekend finale at 1:30 pm.
