POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – With dominating offense, persistent defense and aggressive goaltending, the second-seeded Iona College women's water polo team advanced to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game with a convincing 12-9 semifinal victory over third seed and host Marist College at the McCann Athletic Center Saturday afternoon.
Notching their 20th win on the season, the Gaels (20-12) will face number-one seed Wagner as they seek their third consecutive MAAC Championship.
Senior Alyssa Turza, a first-team All-MAAC selection, led the Gaels with four goals, while junior Amy Olsen, MAAC Offensive Player of the Year and Iona's leading scorer, hit three. Junior goalie Marisa Gaynor recorded thirteen saves in the victory.
Only 22 seconds into the match, junior Erika Lauraitis, a Second Team All-MAAC selection, gave Iona its first lead, but Marist (24-12) came back to tie with 3:42 left in the first quarter. The Red Foxes took their only lead of the afternoon 42 seconds later. Three consecutive Gaels goals – two by Turza, and one from freshman Meghan Mahoney – gave Iona a 4-2 edge as the first period ended.
At 5:28 in the second period, Marist trimmed the Iona lead to 4-3, but freshman Taylor Silva put Iona up 5-3 with 4:03 to go. Marist again got within one at 1:28, but Olsen's goal with 31 seconds left gave the Gaels a 6-4 halftime advantage.
Goals by Turza and Olsen gave Iona its largest lead 8-4 with 6:51 left in the third. But Marist rallied with three unanswered scores to pull within one 8-7 with 41 seconds to go. With nine ticks left in the third, sophomore Katie Stelnicki's goal put the Gaels up 9-7.
With 5:56 left in regulation, Olsen tossed in a rebound for a 10-7 Iona lead. Marist answered 33 seconds later on a 6-5 advantage to make the score 10-8. Turza netted her fourth score at 4:39 to give Iona a three-goal edge 11-8. Twenty-one seconds later, a Marist score trimmed the Gael lead back to two 11-9. But with 3:09 left in the match, Lauraitis put Iona up 12-9, as the Gael defense shut down the Marist offense until the final buzzer.
On the defensive side, Stelnicki blocked a sure Marist goal in the first period when Gaynor was ejected. In the fourth quarter, Gaynor came out of the goal to stop a Marist breakaway that would have pulled the Red Foxes within one. Lauraitis won all four swim offs.
Of the twelve Marist ejections drawn by the Gaels, Olsen caused seven, and junior Sarah Hanly had three. Hanly and Stelnicki were disqualified with three kickouts.
The Gaels and Seahawks face off Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm.
