LEXINGTON, VA – In two MAAC contests on Sunday, the Iona Gaels split contests against Villanova and VMI.
With another strong defensive game, led by junior goalie Britten Vilander, the Iona women's water polo team defeated Villanova University 15-5 in the second of three Metro Atlantic Athletic Conferences here at Clark King Pool hosted by Virginia Military Institute.
Junior Hannah Schultz led Iona (8-5, 4-3 MAAC) with five goals, while junior Megan Hofer had four. Senior co-captain Rebecca Koshy, junior Kayla Allen and junior Devika Joshi scored two goals each.
In goal, junior Britten Vilander had ten saves on 19 Wildcat shots, nine steals and five assists.
On defense, the Gaels made 20 steals and two blocked shots. Iona drew five Villanova ejections, while being kicked out eight times, and making four turnovers. The Gaels scored on one of five man-up opportunities, and the Wildcats hit two goals on eight man-up chances.
With 1:24 gone in the match, Hofer put Iona on the board first, followed by two unanswered goals by Allen to put the Gaels up 3-0 with 5:27 left in the first period. After calling a timeout, Villanova struck on a 6-5 advantage, but Koshy answered on the Gaels next possession for a 4-1 Iona edge. With 3:24 to go, Schultz tapped in Nevin's lob, then the Wildcats scored to narrow the Gaels advantage to 5-2. At the 2:11 mark, Koshy's second score upped the Iona lead to 6-2, then Villanova got back within three 6-3 going into the second quarter.
In the second period, the Gaels outscored the Wildcats 4-0. Schultz needed only 1:11 to up the Iona lead to 7-3. After Vilander's steal spoiled a Wildcat man-up chance, two straight Joshi scores, followed by Hofer's second goal, gave the Gaels a 10-3 edge at intermission.
The Wildcats opened the third period with two consecutive scores to pull within five 10-5 with 3:17 gone. Eleven seconds later, Schultz's third goal upped Iona's lead to 11-5. In the closing 1:33 of the third period, two more Iona scores from Hofer and Schultz put Iona up 13-5 going into the final period. Two unanswered scores by Hofer and Schultz in the fourth period sealed the win for Iona.
Iona faces host VMI at 5 p.m. before heading home to New Rochelle.
Game 2
After two straight conference wins here yesterday, the Iona women's water polo team dropped the final match of this weekend's three Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference games in a 16-13 loss to host Virginia Military Institute.
In a see-saw match that featured nine ties and two lead changes, senior co-captain Rebecca Koshy led Iona (8-6, 4-4 MAAC) with six goals, while junior Kayla Allen had four scores. Juniors Megan Hofer, Karli Normand and Hannah Schultz scored one goal each.
Junior goalie Britten Vilander had five saves on 20 VMI shots and nine steals. On defense, Iona made 17 steals. The Gaels drew nine Keydet ejections, while being kicked out 13 times, and had seven turnovers. Schultz, Hofer and junior Devika Joshi were disqualified with three ejections. Iona scored twice on four man-up opportunities, and VMI scored on eight of nine man-up chances.
Taking advantage of a 6-5 opportunity on its first possession, VMI needed only 56 seconds to get on the board. Schultz tied the score at one with 3:43 to go in the opening period. Two unanswered Keydet goals in the closing two minutes gave the hosts a 3-1 lead going into the second period.
VMI took a 4-1 advantage with 2:18 gone in the second period, but the Gaels ran off three straight goals in the next two minutes. Allen capitalized on a 6-5 opportunity to pull back with two 4-2 a minute later. Normand scored with 2:54 left, followed by Hofer 43 ticks later to tie the match at four. VMI retook the lead 5-4 on a five-meter penalty shot with 45 seconds to halftime.
Just 22 into the third period, the hosts gained a two-goal edge 6-4, then Koshy hit straight goals within 23 seconds to tie the game for the third time at six. Answering with two consecutive scores, VMI regained a two-goal edge 8-6 with 6:10 left in the third. The Gaels, hit two more thanks to Allen and Koshy's five-meter penalty shot to knot the score at eight at the 5:25 mark. With 3:15 on the clock, VMI regained the lead 9-8, but Koshy's backhanded fourth goal tied the game at 10 just 13 seconds later. On a man-up advantage, the hosts scored with 2:15 left to lead 10-9 going into the final period.
On the Gaels first fourth-quarter possession, Allen tied the score at ten, followed by Koshy's fifth score to give Iona its first lead 11-10 with 6:55 to go. Twenty ticks later, the Keydets tied the match at eleven, then Koshy's sixth goal put Iona back on top 12-11 with 5:16 left in regulation. With two straight scores in the next minute, the hosts regained the edge 13-12 with 4:07 on the clock. Allen knotted the game again at 13 with 3:18 on the clock. Three straight VMI goals in the final 2:42 sealed the host's win.
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Iona returns home to face Saint Francis College (Brooklyn), on senior night, Wednesday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m. at Hynes Pool.
