LOUDONVILLE, NY – Despite outscoring Marist 4-1 in the final period, the Iona women's water polo team fell short 11-9 in the second of the weekend's four Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference matches at Siena College. The loss ended Iona's five-game conference winning streak, following the Gaels' win over the host Saints 13-2 in this morning's opening match.
Against Marist, senior Sarah Hanly led the Gaels with three goals, while senior Amy Olsen and junior Katie Stelnicki scored two each. Senior Erika Lauraitis and freshman Rebecca Koshy had one goal apiece. Senior goalie Marisa Gaynor recorded five saves.
Marist stuck first with 39 seconds gone in the match, but Olsen answered 27 ticks later to tie the score at one. The Red Foxes hit two unanswered goals, until Hanly pulled Iona with one 3-2 with 2:27 left in the first quarter. In the second period, Marist scored with 1:37 gone to lead 4-2, but Hanly hit the back of the net again with 3:24 to the half. Marist hit two consecutive goals to lead 6-3 at intermission.
Marist scored 55 seconds into the third period, then Olsen's second goal eight seconds later pulled the Gaels with three 7-4. The Red Foxes hit two unanswered goals to lead 9-4 until Lauratis hit a five-meter penalty shot with 54 seconds left in the period. A last-second full-pool goal gave Marist a 10-5 edge going into the final period.
With consecutive goals by Stelnicki, Hanly and Koshy, Iona narrowed the Marist lead to 10-8 with 1:31 left in regulation. Twenty seconds later, Marist tipped in a rebound to go up 11-8, then Stelnicki hit her second score with four seconds to the final buzzer.
In their win over Siena, the Gaels led the entire match as Olsen led with seven goals, and Lauraitis had two goals and two assists. Stelnicki, Koshy, sophomore Meghan Mahoney and sophomore Rebecca Mathews hit one each. As the Gaels shut out the Saints for the first three quarters, Gaynor recorded three saves and sophomore goalie Dana Delucchi had four.
Although disappointed that his squad did not capitalize on scoring opportunities early in the game, Iona head coach Brian Kelly was confident that the three-time defending MAAC champions can finish strong.
“You're going to put yourself in a very bad position when you start the game one for eight when you have a one-player advantage,” Kelly said. “We fell behind, fought back, but ran out of time.
“We have dug ourselves a little bit of a hole, but if we win our next four games, we'll be in a good spot.”
On Sunday, Iona faces Villanova at 12:00 pm, and Wagner College at 5:30 pm.
