ERIE, PA - After Friday's nearly eight-hour bus ride across New York State, the Iona women's water polo team responded with wins over Salem International University and Gannon University today at the Mercyhurst Lakers Invitational at the Hagerty Family Events Center.

GAME 1 | Iona 13, Salem 10

In a close match featuring five ties and three lead changes, Iona (3-7 overall) mounted a four-goal fourth quarter rally for a 13-10 win over Salem in this afternoon's match.

Sophomore Jordan Van Reeken, freshman Jillian Schultz and freshman Maeve Wydan led the Gaels with three goals each. Freshman Karsyn Stewart had two scores, while sophomore Danielle Hernandez and freshman Brianna Erickson had one goal each.  The Gaels dished out six assists with three from Hernandez.

In goal, redshirt junior Jordin Hale had nine saves on 19 Salem shots, and four steals.

On defense, Iona grabbed seven steals and blocked two Salem shots. The Maroon & Gold drew nine Salem exclusions, while being ejected five times. Sophomore Laura Rockett was disqualified with three ejections with 3:06 left in the third period. Iona turned the ball over 14 times.

With 37 seconds gone in the match, Van Reeken put Iona on the board on the Gaels first possession, but Salem tied the game at one with 6:13 left in the opening period. Two straight goals from Stewart and Schultz in the next minute built a 3-1 Iona edge with 5:15 left. On a 3-0 run, Tigers took advantage of a man-up chance on their next possession to pull within one and knotted the score at three with 1:43 to go. 32 seconds later, Salem took the lead.  With 42 seconds remaining, Erickson tied the game for the third time at four going into the second period.

Wydan opened the second quarter with two straight scores, followed by Stewart's second goal as the Gaels went up three 7-4 with 5:23 to go. Schultz's second score upped the Iona edge to 8-4 at the 3:34 mark, until Salem ended the Gaels 5-0 run a minute later as Iona lead 8-5 at intermission.

Van Reeken's five-meter penalty shot gave the Gaels a 9-5 advantage with 2:09 gone in the third period, but the Tigers cut the Iona lead to three 9-6 just 21 ticks later that sparked a 5-0 Tigers run, including a five-meter penalty goal, as Salem forced the match's fourth tie 9-9, then retook the lead 10-9 with 1:21 left.

Van Reeken ended the Iona's offensive drought to tie the game at 10 with 1:43 gone in the fourth period. Schultz's third goal on a five-meter penalty put Iona back up 11-10 with 3:07 left. Wydan scored her third goal on a 6-5 advantage, followed by Hernandez, as the Gaels increased their lead to 13-10 on a 4-0 run with 1:42 left in regulation to seal the win.
 

GAME 2 | IONA 14, GANNON 9

With seven Gaels finding the back of the net, Iona led the entire match in a 14-9 win over Gannon University in this evening's contest.

Jillian Schultz led the Gaels with five goals on seven shots, while Van Reeken had four scores on four shots. Sophomore Danielle Hernandez, sophomore Laura Rockett, sophomore Carli Tovar, freshman Taylor Hensley, and freshman Malia Naugle scored one goal each. The Gaels assisted on eight goals, with three by Stewart.

In goal, Hale made 15 saves on 32 Gannon shots and added an assist and one steal.

On defense, Iona made eight steals with three by Van Reeken, and Stewart blocked a Gannon shot. The Gaels drew six Golden Knights ejections, while being kicked out five times. Iona turned the ball over 11 times.

With 1:43 gone in the match, Schultz drew a Gannon ejection, then scored on the resulting man-up chance to put Iona on the board 1-0. The Golden Knights answered 1:28 later to tie the game at one, but Van Reeken scored on the Gaels next possession as Iona went back up 2-1 with 4:35 remaining in the opening period. Continuing a 3-0 Iona run, two more goals from Schultz and freshman Malia Naugle put the Gaels up three 4-1 going into the second period.

Gannon trimmed the Iona lead to 4-2 with 1:40 gone in the second quarter. Van Reeken's second goal put the Gaels back up by three 5-2 at the 3:39 mark. Coming off the bench, sophomore Carli Tovar stole a Gannon pass, then broke away to put the Gaels back up four 6-2 with 1:35 remaining. With 49 ticks left, Gannon cut Iona's edge to three 6-3 at intermission.

Van Reeken needed only 1:40 to hit her third goal and put Iona's lead back to four 7-3. Gannon answered on its next possession, then two straight Iona goals from Hernandez and Schultz on consecutive possessions gave the Gaels a five-goal lead 9-4 with 5:03 left. 16 seconds later, the Golden Knights pulled within four 9-5 and one minute later, when Hale attempted a steal, she was assessed with a five-meter penalty, but blocked the resulting Gannon free throw. Two straight Gael goals from Hensley on a Hale assist and sophomore Laura Rockett increased the Iona advantage to 11-5 going into the final period.

Gannon opened the fourth quarter with a goal, but Van Reeken's fourth score gave Iona six-goal edge 13-7 with 6:17 remaining. The Golden Knights struck again on their next chance, but Schultz found the back of the net for the fourth time on the Gaels next trip down the pool for a 13-7 lead with 5:42 on the clock. Gannon scored twice in the closing 2:24 as Iona held on for the win.

With a strong team effort in both games, Iona head coach Brian Kelly saw learning and improvement in his young squad's early season efforts. "I was proud of our efforts in the first game," Kelly said.  "We blew a big lead twice to come back with a 4-0 fourth quarter.  The girls showed a lot of resolve. "In the second game, we didn't play our best defensively, but thankfully we had a big offensive game from our entire roster. We're learning; we're improving.  We have a very young team, and we're going to look a lot different by league play."

 

UP NEXT

On Sunday, Iona faces McKendree at 8:00 a.m., and host Mercyhurst at 11:45 a.m.

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