VILLANOVA, PA - Leading by four goals with 4:28 left in the fourth period, the Iona College women's water polo team allowed five unanswered Harvard scores resulting in a 16-15 double-overtime loss to the Crimson.
Senior All-American Amy Olsen and senior Erika Lauraitis led the Gaels with four goals each. Senior Sarah Hanly scored two goals, and senior goalie Marisa Gaynor, senior Hannah Cross, sophomore Rebecca Mathews and graduate student Allison Peotter had one goal apiece.
In addition to her unassisted goal, Gaynor recorded 18 saves, including stopping two five-meter penalty shots, two steals and one assist. On defense, the Gaels forced 21 ejections with six by Hanly and seven by Olsen.
“Up four goals with four minutes to go is a game you have to win,” said head coach Brian Kelly. “We had plenty of chances to end the game in the fourth quarter and we let a good team hang around. We picked our worst time to play poorly.”
Iona opened the match with three unanswered goals from Olsen, Cross and Gaynor's full-pool shot for a 3-0 lead with 5:06 left in the first. Harvard scored three times, but goals from Olsen and Lauraitis maintained the Gael lead 5-3 going into the second period.
Two more goals from Olsen and Lauraitis gave Iona a 7-4 advantage with 3:20 left in the second. In the closing two minutes, Harvard scored, but Matthews and Hanley answered for a 9-5 Iona margin at intermission.
In the third period, both teams scored twice, but Iona led 11-7 as the fourth quarter started. Nine seconds into the fourth, Lauraitis' third score increased the Gael led to 10-6. Although Harvard scored 25 seconds later, Peotter found the back of the goal putting Iona up 13-8 with 4:28 left in regulation. But Harvard rallied with five unanswered goals, including a game-tying score with five seconds left after breaking Iona's freeze.
With 41 seconds left in the first overtime, Poetter put Iona ahead 14-13, but the Crimson scored with three seconds left to tie the match at 14. At 2:04 in the second overtime, Harvard scored, then Hanly answered 16 seconds later to knot the game at 15. Harvard scored on a 6-5 advantage with 1:06 left for the win.
The Gaels are back in action next weekend, when they played a trio of games at the Princeton Invitational.
