NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona Lacrosse program suffered an 11-9 defeat to the Niagara Purple Eagles in it's MAAC opener Sunday afternoon.

Junior Jenna Tolzmann paved the way for the Gaels offensively, totaling three goals on nine shots. Sophomore Maureen Murphy, juniors Pamela Giordano and Katelyn Becker, and seniors Rachelle Serafini, Katelyn Noschese and Erin Pugh all found the back of the net once.

In goal, sophomore Shannon McCaffrey played all 60 minutes, stopping 13 shots from the opposition.

In the opening minutes, Tolzmann tallied two quick goals, with the latter off an assist from Serafini to put the Gaels up a pair. The Purple Eagles would pull even with two goals in the next nine minutes. With 16:25 to play, Noschese took it to the net herself for her eighth goal of the season. After Niagara pulled ahead with two goals in a three minute span, senior Grace Celona found a cutting Erin Pugh to knot the score at 4-4. The teams would hold eachother off the scoresheet until 1:39 left in the period with a Niagara tally, followed by a crushing strike with just five seconds remaining in the half as the Gaels looked at a two goal deficit, 6-4.

The Purple Eagles pulled ahead in the second half, scoring five of the first six goals in the period. Becker answered a Niagara goal seven minutes in, but the Purple Eagles would score the next four over the next nine minutes. The Gaels would not go quietly, scoring the next three in seven minutes on three unassisted goals by Serafini, Tolzmann and Giordano to pull within two, 10-8. Iona could not cap off the comeback, conceding Niagara's ninth goal with 5:39 to play. Murphy tallied her second of the year with 1:44 to play before the Gaels ran out of time.

Iona travels up to Buffalo to tackle MAAC favorite Canisius on Saturday at 11:00 AM.