JERSEY CITY, NJ - The Iona College women's soccer team went on the road and defeated Saint Peter's 1-0 on Wednesday afternoon. Junior
Kiera Haggerty netted her third goal of the season on a free kick to help the Gaels pick up an important three points in league play.
Starting keeper Emma Havrilla was tested early on twice, coming up with saves on both occasions. Iona had a couple of early opportunities on set pieces from the corner during the early portion of the first half, but did not register a shot. Havrilla's biggest moment came in the 28th minute when Saint Peter's was awarded a penalty kick. Stephanie Radakovic lined it up for the Peacocks, but her try came off of the right post and deflected away, not allowing a follow-up chance for Saint Peter's.
Having caught a lucky break, Iona looked to completely turn the momentum by generating a goal of its own, but could muster nothing offensively. Both Iona and Saint Peter's went the remainder of the opening 45 minutes without registering a shot, let alone a shot on goal. The Maroon & Gold finished with a goose egg in the shot column in the first half.
Iona's first shot of the match came from Faith Preziosi and was on target, but was turned away by Annabelle Adams eight minutes into the second half. Samantha Hogan followed up with a shot of her own, but missed the net. Off of a corner, Hogan had another chance that was stopped by Adams.
The Gaels had two more chances from the corner, but still came up empty. Finally, it was Haggerty who found twine, blasting a left-footed shot around the wall of Saint Peter's defenders on a free kick just outside the box. The 65th minute goal for the Whitestone, New York native was her third of the season and would be all Iona needed to leave Jaroschak Field with a victory.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- Haggerty's goal was her third of the season, moving her into a five-way tie for the team lead and a two-way tie for second-most points (9) this year. The goal was the fifth of her career and more than doubles her combined output from her freshman and sophomore seasons.
- Havrilla earned win number five of the season in cage with her third shutout of the year. Her third clean sheet is a new career-high.
- Iona earned a clean sheet for the second straight match and the fifth time this season. Three of Iona's shutouts came in non-conference action; the two victims in league play have been Canisius and Saint Peter's.
- The Gaels' seventh win this season matches the program's highest win total in the Todd Plourde era.
- The win propelled the Maroon & Gold into ninth place in the conference standings, sitting on the opposite side of a tie breaker with eighth-place Manhattan. The top eight teams in the MAAC will earn a berth to the postseason.
- Iona improves to 19-3-2 all-time against Saint Peter's and has now won nine of the last 10 matchups between the two sides.
UP NEXT
Iona welcomes Fairfield to Mazzella Field on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff as a part of Iona College's homecoming weekend. The match is set to be streamed live on ESPN3.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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