POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - The second-seeded Iona women's water polo team failed to score a goal in the first three periods in a 14-3 semifinal loss to second-seeded Marist College in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship Semifinal Saturday afternoon.

Sophomores Laura Rockett, MAAC first-team selection Jordan Van Reeken and MAAC second-team member freshman Jillian Schultz scored one goal each for the Maroon & Gold (15-17 overall), who took 22 shots.

With 1:16 gone in the match, the Red Foxes struck first on their second possession for a 1-0 edge. Marist added another goal with 2:20 to go for a 2-0 advantage going into the second quarter, as Iona failed to score on three shots in the opening period.

Marist tacked on another unanswered goal 1:58 into the second period, followed by a breakaway score 2:36 later to go up 4-0 with 3:26 to halftime. The Red Foxes mounted a 5-0 lead with 35 ticks on the clock, then the Iona defense prevented another Marist score with Hale ejected as the buzzer sounded for intermission. Iona failed to score on nine first-half shots on net.

Marist struck again for a 6-0 advantage just 1:45 into the third period. As the Gaels offensive drought continued, the Red Foxes added two consecutive scores to lead 8-0 entering the final period.

After Marist scored on its first fourth-quarter possession, Rockett finally got Iona on the board to pull within eight 9-1 with 6:51 remaining. After four straight Red Foxes goals over the four minutes, Schultz and Van Reeken found the back of the net to trim the Marist lead to 13-3 with 1:21 left. Another Red Foxes goal 10 seconds later secured their championship game berth against first-seeded Wagner College tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.

In goal, redshirt junior Jordin Hale made five saves on 24 Marist shots and three steals. Freshman Christina Chiappini did not face any Marist shots in the closing minute.

On defense, Iona collected ten steals with two each by Van Reeken and Schultz, while Van Reeken had the Gaels sole blocked shot. Iona drew six Marist exclusions, and were ejected six times. The Gaels turned the ball over 15 times.

While praising his squad's defensive performance, Iona head coach Brian Kelly was disappointed with the offensive effort. "It's too bad we wasted a really solid half-court defensive effort," said Kelly, who is coaching in his 17th consecutive MAAC Championship this weekend. "If we grinded as hard on offense as much as we did on defense, we might have given Marist a decent game."

Iona takes on fourth-seeded Virginia Military Institute in the third-place match at noon tomorrow.