POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Leading by one with four seconds left in the game and Shannon McCaffrey staring down Marist's Lauren Mazza on a free-position attempt, the veteran goalkeeper stonewalled the final attempt as Iona picked up a crucial 12-11 to remain in the hunt for the final spot in the MAAC Championships. The Gaels (8-8, 3-4) can clinch the sixth spot in the tournament on Wednesday with either a win over Monmouth (7-9, 5-2) or a Manhattan (5-10, 2-5) loss.
 
For the game, McCaffrey stopped 12 Red Foxes' attempts and grabbed six ground balls.
 
Eight different Gaels found the back of the net in the game, including a team-best four goals by Pamela Giordano. Kaitlyn Becker notched two goals on five shots, grabbed one ground ball and caused one turnover. Iona received goals from Christine Gironda, Katelyn Noschese, Danielle Keenan, Maureen Murphy, Sara Stewart and the final tally which proved to be the difference by Madi Kochanek.
 
Marist opened the game scoring three of the first four tallies in the contest. After the host took a 1-0 lead, Giordano scored just over five minutes from the opening draw, but Marist scored three over the next five minutes to take a 3-1 lead. After Murphy was able to cut the deficit to a pair, the Red Foxes continued the offensive attack with three more unanswered goals to take a 7-2 lead with 11:11 remaining in the half.
 
After Keenan was denied on a free position shot, the Gaels rattled off five unanswered goals to knot the score at 7-7 at halftime. With 8:15 to play in the opening period, Noschese scored her 25^th goal of the season and was followed by Giordano 1:30 later. With 2:13 before the halftime break, Giordano found Becker to trim the deficit to 7-5. 30 seconds later, Noschese found Gironda for her sixth tally of the year. After Marist controlled the following draw, Gabriella Di Domizio forced a Marist turnover but Becker shot wide. After regaining possession on the shot, Marist committed a foul which put Giordano in place to connect on a free position attempt.
 
Marist regained the lead just over three minutes into the second half but was answered by Stewart's fourth goal of the season. After the host took a 9-8 lead with 16:09 to play, Iona scored five goals over a 5:01 span to take a 12-9 lead that they would not relinquish. During the run, Giordano connected with her 46^th goal of the season, putting her in fifth place in program history for a single season and fifth in goals scored for a career with 110. Two minutes later, Becker scored and Keenan followed up a minute after that. With 11:08 to play, Madi Kochanek found the back of the net for the third time this season to expand the Iona lead to three.
 
With 9:03 to play, Marist scored two goals in 1:09 to trim the Iona lead to one, 12-11 as Iona tried not to play into it's 0-3 MAAC record this season in one-goal games. With 6:45, the Red Foxes sent a shot wide and did not record another shot attempt until McCaffrey denied an attempt with 2:20 remaining. After head coach Michelle Mason called a timeout, Jenna Tolzmann sent a free position shot wide but Noschese corralled the ensuing ground ball. With 35 ticks remaining, the Red Foxes forced a turnover and successfully cleared with 20 seconds remaining. A Carley Pellechia foul put Marist face-to-face with McCaffrey who denied the final shot and sent the Iona team into a frenzy.
 
As a team, the Gaels outshot Marist 37-36 and forced 17 turnovers. Iona was successful on 18-22 clears and grabbed 20 out of 36 ground balls. The Gaels did struggled on draws, controlling only eight out of 25 on the day.
 
Iona controls it's own destiny into the 2018 MAAC Championships and can clinch when they take on Monmouth in West Long Branch on Wednesday at 3:00 PM. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.