PHILADELPHIA, PA - With two one-score conference wins, the Iona women's water polo team locked up the third seed in the upcoming Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships with an 11-10 victory over Virginia Military Institute and 6-5 triumph over St. Francis College (Brooklyn) at the LaSalle Invitational.
GAME ONE: Iona 11, VMI 10
After leading early in the match, Iona trailed by two at halftime, but rebounded with seven second-half goals and strong defense for a narrow 11-10 win over VMI, which featured six ties and two lead changes.
Freshmen
Maeve Wydan led the Gaels with five goals on eight shots (15-15, 9-4 MAAC), while freshman
Malia Naugle had two scores. Sophomore
Laura Rockett, sophomore
Jordan Van Reeken, freshman
Taylor Hensley and freshman
Jillian Schultz made one goal apiece. Hensley had the Gaels two assists. Iona scored eleven goals on shots.
In goal, redshirt junior
Jordin Hale made nine saves on 20 LaSalle shots and two steals.
On defense, Iona made 14 steals with four by Schultz, and two blocked shots by Van Reeken and Schultz. The Gaels drew nine Keydets exclusions, while being ejected seven times. Iona turned the ball over 13 times.
With just 36 seconds gone in the match, Wydan put the Gaels on the board, followed by Naugle a minute later for a 2-0 edge with 5:24. On their next possession, the Keydets scored on a 6-5 advantage to trim the Gael lead to 2-1. Wydan's second goal put Iona back up by two 3-1 with 2:45 on the clock. On their next trip down the pool, VMI again capitalized on a man-up chance, then tied the game at three with 28 ticks left. Wydan struck for the third time as the Gaels regained the lead 4-3 with 12 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
In the second period, VMI hit three unanswered goals, while Iona failed to score, and trailed by two 6-4 at intermission.
Wydan opened the third period with her fourth goal to get Iona back within one 6-5 with 16 seconds gone. VMI answered on a 6-5 chance to go back up two 7-5 with 5:04 remaining. Two straight Gael goals by Schultz and Rockett resulted in the game's third tie 7-7 at 3:59 on the clock. VMI regained the lead 8-7 just 25 seconds later.
In the final period, Iona rebounded to outscore VMI 4-2. Wydan's fifth score with 1:06 gone in the final period reknotted the score for the fourth time 8-8, but the Keydets went back up one 8-7 just 30 seconds later. On the Gaels next trip down the pool, Hensley tied the game at nine, then Schultz's steal led to Naugle giving Iona the lead back 10-9 with 5:23 to go. Fifty seconds later, the Keydets pulled back even 10-10, until the Gaels went up one 11-10 with 2:46 remaining. With stiff Gael defense in the closing 34 seconds, VMI failed to put a shot on goal to seal the Iona win.
GAME TWO: Iona 6, Saint Francis Brooklyn 5
In a low-scoring match with three lead changes and four ties, Iona came from behind for a 6-5 win over St. Francis to deny the Terriers the fourth and final seed in the upcoming MAAC Championships.
Schultz led the Gaels with three goals on four shots, while Wydan scored two, and Rockett added one. Wydan also assisted on two goals. Iona scored six goals on 28 shots.
In goal, Hale made 14 saves on 28 Terriers shots and one steal.
On defense, Iona made 11 steals with four by Van Reeken and three by Schultz. Van Reeken and Schultz had one blocked shot each. The Gaels drew 11 Terriers exclusions, while being ejected four times. Iona made 19 turnovers.
St. Francis got on the board first on a five-meter penalty shot with 2:27 gone in the match. Rockett tied the game at one with 3:42 left in the first period. The Terriers went back up one at the 1:05 mark for a 2-1 edge going into the second quarter.
With 40 seconds gone in the second period, St. Francis mounted a two-goal lead 3-1 on a rebound lob, until two straight Iona scores by Wydan and Schultz tied the score at three with 6:23 to go. With neither team scoring for the rest of the quarter, the match remained tied at intermission.
Continuing a 3-0 Gael run, Schultz needed only 49 seconds to score her second goal on a 6-5 advantage as Iona took the lead for the first time 4-3. Two unanswered Terriers scores on consecutive possessions put St. Francis back up one 5-4 with 5:50 remaining. With 4:30 on the clock, Wydan's second score tied the match for the fourth time at five going into the final period.
Iona regained a one-goal lead 6-5 on Schultz's third goal with 2:45 gone, which was enough to seal with win despite a chance for St. Francis to tie in the closing seconds.
COACH KELLY THOUGHTS
Despite his squad's "flat" play, except for Hale's goaltending, in the two wins, Iona head coach
Brian Kelly was pleased with how his young team has improved after a slow non-conference start. "Two really big wins for us," said Kelly, who is heading to his 17th consecutive MAAC Championships. "We're having a good second half to our season. We played flat today in many areas except in goal. JoJo won two games for us today."
UP NEXT
Iona faces second-place Marist College in a noon match tomorrow at Villanova University to wrap up the regular season before the MAAC Championships in Poughkeepsie begin on Saturday, April 27.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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