POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - Despite a two-all halftime tie, the third-seeded Iona women's water polo team managed only two goals and gave up two empty-net scores in the second half to fall 7-4 to second-seed Marist College in this afternoon's second semifinal match in the 2018 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship.

Senior Devika Joshi led Gaels (12-23) with two goals, while seniors Karli Normand and Hannah Schultz had one goal apiece. Senior Britten Vilander made four saves on 14 Marist shots, eight steals and had Iona's lone assist.

On defense, Iona made 14 steals, and drew 13 Marist kickouts, while being ejected ten times. Joshi was disqualified with three ejections. The Gaels turned the ball over 13 times. Iona scored on one man-up chance on 13 opportunities, while Marist capitalized on six of nine.

With 27 seconds gone in the match, a wide-open Joshi lobbed Vilander's pass into the back of the net to give Iona a 1-0 lead. The Red Foxes, ranked number No. 24 nationally, tied the game at one with 6:27 left in the opening period. Taking advantage of its first 6-5 opportunity, Marist went up 2-1 with 2:38 on the clock. On the Gaels next possession just 14 seconds later, Schultz put back a rebound from her blocked shot to knot the score at two. With 10 ticks left in the first quarter, Vilander's save spoiled a Marist man-up chance to keep the game tied at two.

With stiff defense on both ends of the pool, neither squad managed a goal in the second period despite several man-up chances each. Marist nearly took a halftime lead with 24 seconds left, but Vilander blocked a sure goal, then stole a pool-length pass in front of the cage as time expired for intermission.

At the 6:35 mark in the third period, the Red Foxes retook the lead 3-2 on a man-up opportunity, then scored again on their next possession to go up two 4-2 with 5:54 remaining. Marist continued a 3-0 run when Vilander was ejected for a 5-2 edge 1:08 later. Joshi's second goal on the Gaels next possession pulled Iona back within two 5-3 with 4:10 remaining. After senior Kayla Allen was ejected with a yellow-card warning, Marist increased its advantage to 6-3 with seconds remaining.

With 1:23 gone in the third period, Normand trimmed the Red Foxes lead to two 6-4, but Vilander's ejection on the next Marist possession resulted another empty-net score with 6:01 on the clock. With Iona failing to score, the Red Foxes maintained their 7-4 lead for the rest of the final period.

While praising his team's preparation and effort, Iona head coach Brian Kelly, who has coached his Gael squad to all 16 MAAC Championships, was disappointed with the "execution," especially on the power-play offense.

"I was really happy with the effort," Kelly said. "The girls fought really hard. We just needed better execution on our power play which was our downfall. We gave ourselves a chance to win; we just couldn't put away our advantages. Give credit to their goalie – she was outstanding."

Iona plays fourth-seeded Virginia Military Institute in tomorrow's third-place game at noon, while Marist faces Wagner College in the championship final at 2:00 PM.