NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College women's lacrosse team dropped its home contest against George Mason on Saturday afternoon, 17-6. All of the Maroon & Gold's scores came from first year players.

GAME SUMMARY

George Mason began the game scoring the first five goals of the game. Deanna Balsama had two in the first four minutes to lead the Patriot attack. Abby Folker, Hailey Johnson and Chachi Kelehan also scored within the opening 4:27.
 
The Maroon & Gold got on the board and ended the drought with rookie Leah Marshall scoring her ninth of the season at the 13:32 mark. The patriots answered 22 seconds later to make it 7-1.
 
George Mason ended the first half with a 9-3 lead. Gael scorers in the first besides Marshall included freshmen Katherine Meyer and Kati Paavola. Iona was outshot 15-9 in the opening 30 minutes. 13 of the Patriots 15 shots were on goal.
 
The Patriots controlled the pace of play in the second half. Outscoring the Gaels 8-3 in the period, they used two separate three goals spurts to conclude the game.
 
Johnson and Chachi Kelehan each had a game-high four goals. They combined for 13 of George Mason's 30 shots. Iona was led by Marshall's three scores on five shots. She drew four free position opportunities. Meyer had two goals and Paavola scored once.
 
Junior Samantha Tyo started the game in net for the Gaels. It was her first action since her rookie campaign when she appeared in eight games. Senior Shannon McCaffrey relieved her within the opening five minutes following the initial George Mason scoring outburst.
 
Saturday was Iona's finale home non-conference game. The Gaels have two more games before opening up MAAC play on the road at Siena on Saturday, Mar. 23. Their first home league game is on Wednesday, Mar. 27 against Monmouth.

UP NEXT

Iona returns to competition on Wednesday, Mar. 13 on the road at Sacred Heart. First draw from Campus Field in Fairfield, CT set for 3:00 p.m. You can follow the game with live stats.

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