NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College women's water polo team opened the 2012 campaign with a pair of wins at the Iona Invite at the Hynes Center Pool. In game one, the Gaels topped Harvard 15-14 before toppling Villanova 16-7 in the finale.
In the opening, the Gaels and Crimson battled back and forth with Iona able to open up a five goal lead in the third. With 1:28 to go and Iona up three, Harvard scored twice in a just over minute to cut the lead to one. The Gaels were able to run the final seconds of the game out for the win.
"A great opening win for us," said head coach
Brian Kelly. "Both teams played great polo in spots and sloppy polo at times. That's what you see early in the season."
It was an excellent win to start the season versus a Harvard team that is one of the best teams in the East. Our 2M play was outstanding. Turza and Olsen combined for five goals which really opened things up for everyone. Gaynor played tremendous in goal and made some big saves to end Harvard's 4th quarter comeback."
In the second contest, Iona found themselves close to Villanova late in the third, leading just 8-6 before outscoring the Wildcats 8-1 to end the contest.
"A quality win against a gritty Nova squad that came to play, and didn't get discouraged when we started off well," said Kelly. "They fought back and were the aggressor. We picked up our defense and changed the momentum back in our favor."
Olsen led the Gaels in the finale, scoring six times. Hanly had three goals while Mone had two goals and two assists. Leonard contributed on both ends of the pool, with two goals and two steals. Lauraitis, sophomore
Georgina Lee and freshman
Ashley DeMarzo each found the net in the game for the first time this season. In net, Gaynor had three saves, one steal and one assist. Freshman Deven Green had three saves and two assists in a relief role.
The Gaels are back in action during the Feb. 25/26 weekend at the Princeton Invite.
