PROVIDENCE, RI -- After earning its first season victory this morning with a 9-8 upet over No. 25 CWPA-ranked host Brown University, the Iona women's water polo team dropped a 15-8 decision to No. 13-ranked Hartwick College this afternoon at the 2018 Bruno Classic. Hannah Schultz became the third player in program history to surpass 300 goals, now only trailing Amy Olson and Maggie Woods for most all-time.

Iona 9 Brown 8
Schultz led the Gaels with five goals, while Allen scored two goals and made two of Iona's five assists. Joshi and freshman Laura Rockett had one goal each.
Senior goalie Britten Vilander made five saves on 28 Brown shots, nabbed five steals and added an assist.

On defense, the Gaels made 11 steals with two each from Joshi and senior Megan Hofer, and a blocked shot by freshman Jordan Van Reeken. Iona drew seven Brown kickouts, and were ejected ten times with Hofer being disqualified with three. The Gaels turned the ball over seven times. Iona scored on four of seven man-up chances, while Brown capitalized on four of seven.

Schultz needed only 28 seconds to put Iona up 1-0, but three unanswered Brown goals gave the hosts a 3-1 advantage with 5:23 left in the opening period. A minute later, Allen pulled the Gaels back within one 3-2, then tied the game at three at the 3:38 mark. The Bears regained the lead 4-3 on a 6-5 advantage 1:13 later going into the second period.

With 2:32 gone in the second quarter, Joshi tied the score at four, but two unanswered Bears goals on consecutive possessions put Brown up 6-4 with 4:21 remaining. Less than a minute later, the Gaels went on a two-goal run of their own on goals by Rockett and Schultz with 2:21 to go for a six-all halftime tie.

Just 25 seconds into the third period, Schultz drew a five-meter penalty and buried the ball in the back of the net to put the Gaels ahead for good 7-6. Neither team scored until Schultz's fourth goal on a 6-5 advantage put Iona up 8-6. Brown missed a five-meter penalty shot at the 1:24 mark to preserve the Iona's two-goal edge going into the fourth period.

The Bears pulled within one, 8-7 with 1:36 gone in the fourth quarter, but Schultz's fifth goal put the Gaels back up by two 9-7 with 4:33 remaining. Despite a Brown goal with 34 ticks left in regulation, Iona held onto its one-goal edge for the squad's first season win.

Iona 8 Hartwick 15
Schultz led the Gaels (1-5) with seven goals on ten shots and senior Davika Joshi had one goal.  Iona had three assists.

Red-shirt sophomore goalie Jordin Hale made 11 saves on 33 Hartwick shots and collected four steals and one dished out an assist.

On defense, the Gaels made seven steals with four by senior Kayla Allen. Iona did not score on eight man-up chances, while Hartwick did not capitalize on six opportunities. The Gaels forced ten Hawks kickouts, while being ejected six times. Iona turned the ball over 15 times.

Schultz put Iona on the board first with 45 seconds gone in the match, but Hartwick evened the score at one on its second possession. With 5:31 left in the opening period, the Hawks began a 4-0 run for a lead 4-1 going into the second quarter. Hartwick added two more goals to lead 6-1 with 1:25 left, until Schultz's second and third goals trimmed the Hawk edge to 6-3 with 31 ticks to intermission.

Over the first five minutes of the third quarter, Hartwick hit four consecutive goals to lead 10-3 with 3:05 left. Schultz added her fourth goal 42 ticks later to pull the Gaels within six 10-4 going into the final period. The Hawks outscored the Gaels 5-4 in the final period with Schultz hitting three Iona goals and Joshi adding one with two minutes remaining.

Despite his squad's early season record, Iona head coach Brian Kelly was pleased with the team' improvement shown against nationally ranked opponents.
"This is two tournaments in a row that we have gotten better over the weekend," Kelly said.  "We're learning how to play as a team on both sides of the pool, and looking forward to improve playing a very tough early schedule."

The Gaels travel to San Diego next weekend for four matches in the 2018 Triton Invite hosted by the University of California San Diego.