STATEN ISLAND, NY - After splitting yesterday's two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference matches, the Iona women's water polo team gave Iona head coach Brian Kelly a well-deserved birthday present with an 11-8 conference win over Virginia Military Institute this afternoon at Wagner College's Spiro Sports Center.

GAME summary

Freshman Jillian Schultz led the Gaels (10-14, 4-3 MAAC) with three goals on six shots, while sophomore Jordan Van Reeken had two scores. Sophomore Laura Rockett, freshmen Brianna Erickson, Taylor Hensley, Malia Naugle, Karsyn Stewart and Maeve Wydan had one goal apiece. In goal, redshirt junior Jordin Hale made nine saves on 21 VMI shots and two steals.

On defense, Iona grabbed ten steals with three by Schultz. The Gaels drew 11 Keydets ejections, while being kicked out nine times. Iona turned the ball over nine times.

Naugle needed only 20 seconds into the match to put Iona up 1-0 after the opening sprint. With 3:35 left in the opening period, Erickson's goal, followed by Van Reeken's score 27 seconds later, gave the Gaels a 3-0 advantage. The Keydets got on the board on their next possession, but Stewart restored Iona's three-goal edge 4-1 with 2:34 on the clock. With 47 ticks remaining, VMI trimmed Iona's lead to two 4-2 going into the second period.

Neither squad scored until 3:23 into the second quarter, when VMI cut Iona's edge to one 4-3. The Keydets tied the match at four with 33 seconds to intermission as the Gaels failed to score in the second period. Iona found the back on the net on four of 15 shots in the first half, while failing to capitalize on six man-up chances.

On their next trip down pool, the Keydets retied the game at five. The Gaels went back up one 6-5 on Schultz's second score with 3:20 remaining. Just 1:04 later, VMI knotted the score for the third time at six each going into the fourth period.

With 1:22 gone, Wydan gave Iona the lead back 7-6, then Schultz's third score gave the Gaels a two-goal cushion with 6:04 left. Two unanswered Iona goals in the next two minutes by Hensley and Rockett put the Gaels up 10-6 with 4:14 remaining. After VMI pulled with three on a man-up chance at the 3:27 mark, Van Reeken's second goal 50 ticks later put Iona back up 11-7 to seal the win.

Iona assistant coach Alex Williams was pleased with the squad's resilience after yesterday's disappointing loss to Marist. "It's always great when you have an opportunity to bounce back after a tough loss," Williams said. "Today we did a really good job of putting that behind us and coming out strong from the opening sprint. We did a great job of finishing the game with a dominant fourth quarter. It was great to see the team play a well-rounded game, which resulted in a nice birthday gift for Coach Kelly."

UP NEXT

After celebrating the program's annual alumni reunion next weekend, the Gaels travel to Brooklyn for four conference matches on Apr. 6-7. On Saturday, Apr. 6, Iona takes on Siena at 1:30 p.m., and Villanova at 6 p.m. On Sunday, April 7, Iona faces Wagner at 10:30 a.m., and La Salle at 3 p.m.

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