POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - The Iona College women's water polo team finished a perfect 4-0 weekend Sunday with two wins at the round robin matchups hosted by Marist College. The Gaels opened the day with a 17-8 victory over Siena before defeating VMI 14-6 in their weekend finale.
A loss by previously undefeated Wagner to Marist earlier in the day propelled the Maroon & Gold to the top of the MAAC Standings with their 5-1 conference mark. The Seahawks and Red Foxes also have just one loss in MAAC play, with the Red Foxes and Gaels each holding 5-1 records.
The win over Siena was the 300th career victory for head coach Brian Kelly at the helm of the women's program. He is the second coach in Iona history to win 300 games with one program, following Jim McDermott who won 319 games as head coach of the men's basketball team from 1948-73. He now has 506 wins as mentor of both the men's and women's programs.
Against the Saints, senior tri-captain Amy Olsen led Iona with five goals, while senior tri-captain Erika Lauraitis hit three. Sophomores Meghan Mahoney, Rebecca Mathews and Sara Bortz scored two goals, while senior Hannah Cross, sophomore Dana Andrea, freshman Rebecca Koshy had one each. Senior tri-captain Marisa Gaynor recorded nine saves in goal.
In the opening period, Iona scored seven straight goals, including three by Olsen to lead 7-1 going in the second quarter. The Gaels outscored the Saints 5-2 for a 12-3 halftime lead. Siena managed three scores to Iona's two in the third quarter, but Iona led 14-6 as the final period began. Iona hit three goals in the final period to secure the win.
Against VMI, Olsen led Iona with six goals, while Lauraitis scored four times. Cross, junior Katie Stelnicki, sophomore Taylor Silva and Mathews added one goal each. Gaynor recorded eleven saves. On defense, Iona had 19 steals, including eight by Olsen and five by Stelnicki, and drew seven Cadet kickouts.
Olsen's fifth goal of the contest was the historic 331th score of her career, moving her into first all-time in the category.
Olsen put Iona on the board first with her sixth goal of the day, followed by Stelnicki for a 2-0 lead with 3:29 gone in the match. VMI answered, but Lauraitis found the back of the net to give the Gaels a 3-1 lead at the end of the first. Just 1:29 into the second quarter, the Cadets pulled within one 3-2, then Olsen struck twice to give the Gaels a 5-2 halftime lead.
In the third period, the Gaels outscored the Cadets 6-3 on three goals from Lauraitis and one each from Olsen, Silva and Cross for a 11-5 edge entering the final quarter. Iona added three goals in the fourth, while holding VMI to one for the win.
Playing his entire squad this weekend, Iona head coach Kelly was pleased with four conference wins and the Gaels' play on both ends of the pool.
“We capped off a solid weekend with two great team wins today,” Kelly said. “We came out rolling, had a great first half, and did a great job of controlling play against Siena.
“Our offense was a little stagnant against VMI early, continued Kelly. "Thankfully, our defense was up for the task, and we had one of our best defensive games of the season.”
Next weekend, Iona travels to Siena College to face the Saints and Marist on Saturday, and Villanova and Wagner on Sunday.
“It's going to be a tough final MAAC weekend," said Kelly. "But we have put ourselves in a situation that we control our own destiny now.”
