NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College women's lacrosse team's late rally fell short in a 12-11 defeat to Siena Saturday afternoon on senior day. Freshman Erin Pugh led the Gaels with three goals, while sophomore Mary Kate McCormick tallied a game high four points in the contest.

Prior to the game, the Gaels honored seniors Bridget Sickles, Angela Grous, Nicole Brancaccio, Brenna Lade, Nina Veneziale, Kristen Flynn, and Maria Ortiz for their contributions to the program.

The Saints took an early 2-0 lead on a pair of goals by Erin Mossop 4:59 into the contest. Junior Bernadette Gennaro brought the Gaels to within one on a free possession shot. Grous then tied the score on free possession of her own to knot the game at two. Ten seconds later, junior Megan Testoni tallied her 19th goal of the season to give the Gaels the lead. Veneziale and Brancaccio each put one in the net, as the Gaels took a 5-2 lead with 13:08 remaining in the half. The Saints tallied another before Pugh answered with her first of the game with thirty seconds remaining in the period. A last-second goal by Siena cut the Iona lead to 6-4 after the first thirty minutes.

Siena's Alyssa Treanor scored early in the second half, trimming Iona's lead to one. Pugh put the Gaels back up by a pair, notching her 21st goal of the year. From there, the Saints went on a 3-0 run, before Testoni connected with her 20th of the season. Siena added three more goals, as they led 12-8 with 10:04 remaining.

Pugh completed the hat trick to cut the deficit to two off of a a dish from McCormick. McCormick then followed with a goal of her own with 5:41 remaining. Brancaccio put one home with 1:27 remaining as Iona trimmed the lead to one, 12-11 before time ran out on the comeback.

In net, Ortiz made 11 saves,playing all 60 minutes in the contest. Siena netminder Ashley Holdridge made 14 stops. The Gaels outshot the Saints 32-27, and grabbed 23 of 41 ground balls.

The Gaels complete their 2014 campaign 2-14 overall, with a conference mark of 1-7.