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Iona University Athletics

Lilly Morris

Women's Water Polo Garrett Murray - Assistant Director of Athletic Communications

Iona Water Polo Defeats La Salle and Bucknell

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
PRINCETON, NJ – The Iona women's water polo team opened a four-game weekend road trip with two close wins over LaSalle University and Bucknell University at the Princeton Invite hosted here this weekend by Princeton University.

Iona 11 LaSalle 9

Despite a three-goal La Salle third-quarter rally trimming a four-goal Gaels advantage to one, Iona held the lead for the entire match for a 11-9 non-conference win in this evening's game. Freshman Jenna Handall led the Gaels (5-1 overall) with four goals on six shots, while graduate student Jordan Van Reeken, graduate student Sydney Brightenburg and freshman Nola Trujillo had two scores each. Junior Kaya Hart added one goal for Iona.

The Gaels scored 11 goals on 27 shots and made five assists with two each from senior Karsyn Stewart and Trujillo.
In goal, junior Lily Morris made nine saves on 20 Explorers shots with nine goals against. On defense, Iona made seven steals with two by Trujillo, and blocked three shots.  Iona drew nine LaSalle kickouts with four by Brightenburg, and two five-meter penalties, while being ejected eight times, including one five-meter ejection. The Gaels turned the ball over ten times and forced three Explorers turnovers. Iona won three of four swim-offs.

With 1:20 gone in the match, Handall got Iona on the board first, followed by Hart just 29 ticks later for a 2-0 Gaels edge with 4:47 left. The Explorers answered on a 6-5 chance to pull within one 2-1 at the 4:32 mark.  Van Reeken converted a five-meter penalty shot for restore a two-goal Gaels advantage, but the Explorers did the same to cut the Iona edge back to one 3-2 with 2:38 on the clock. With 1:52 remaining, Hendall's second score upped the Iona lead to two 4-2 going into the second period. On their first second-quarter possession, a breakaway Explorers score trimmed the Gaels edge back to one 4 -3. Handall found the back of the net for her third score as Iona went back up two with 3:37 left for a 5-3 halftime advantage.

Handall needed only 16 seconds into the third period to hit her fourth goal for a three-score 6-3 Gaels edge.  Continuing a 4-0 Iona run, Trujillo followed 51 ticks later to build a 7-3 margin. The Explorers answered with three straight scores to cut the Gaels lead to one 7-6 with 4:28 left. With 3:23 remaining, Van Reeken's second goal off a steal ended the LaSalle rally and restored a two-goal Iona edge 8-6 going into the final period.

Brightenburg's woman-up score only 53 seconds into the fourth period upped the Iona edge to three 9-6. After the Explorers answered with a 6-5 score, Trujillo gave the Gaels another woman-up score as Iona went back up three 10-7 at the 4:40 mark.  With 1:46 left, the Explorers got back within two 10-8, Brightenburg's second 6-5 score sealed the Iona victory despite a LaSalle goal with 38 ticks on the clock.

Iona 9 Bucknell 8

Revenging last Saturday's last-second one-goal loss to the Bisons in Erie, PA, the Gaels celebrated with a one-goal 9-8 victory, while holding off Bucknell's fourth quarter 4-2 rally, including a goal in the final seconds. Van Reeken led Iona with four goals on eight shots, while Hart had three scores. Junior Amelia Gonzalez and sophomore Addison Collins added one goal each.

The Gaels scored nine goals on 29 shots and made six assists with three from Handall. In goal, junior Lily Morris made nine saves on 18 Bisons shots and one steal with eight goals against. On defense, Iona made ten steals with three by Gonzalez, and blocked one shot. Iona drew seven Bucknell kickouts with three by Van Reeken, and one five-meter penalties, while being ejected eight times, including one five-meter ejection.    

The Gaels turned the ball over ten times and forced seven Bisons turnovers. Iona won all four swim-offs. Iona scored on four of seven woman-up chances, while Bucknell scored on one of five opportunities. Neither squad scored until 3:23 gone in the match when Gonzalez got the Gaels on the board with a woman-up goal for a 1-0 edge, but the Bisons answered to tie the match at one with 2:29 left in the opening period. After Brightenburg missed a five-meter penalty shot, Van Reeken restored Iona's one-goal edge 2-1 with 40 ticks left. Twenty-five seconds later, Bucknell retied the score at two going into the second period.

With 2:28 left in the second quarter, Van Reeken's second score put Iona back up one 3-2, but Bucknell knotted the game again at three with 1:36 remaining.  On Iona's next trip down the pool, Van Reeken hit her third score just 27 ticks later to give the Gaels a 4-3 halftime lead. Just 51 seconds into the third period, the Bisons tied the score at four.  After a Gaels time out, Van Reeken capitalized on a 6-5 chance to restore Iona's one-goal edge 5-4 at the 4:29 mark.   With 2:45 left, Hart upped the Iona edge to two 6-4. Continuing a 3-0 run, Hart and Collins scored in the final 2:45 for a three-score 7-4 Gaels margin going into the fourth quarter.

The Bisons opened the fourth quarter with two straight goals on consecutive possessions sliced the Iona advantage back to one 7-6 with 1:25 gone.  Hart answered with two more goals to restore the Gaels edge back to three 9-6 with 5:34 on the clock.  With 2:45 remaining, the Bisons pulled back within two 9-7.   Despite another Bison goal with 11 ticks left, the Gaels ran out the clock for the 9-8 win.

COACH THOUGHTS

Iona head coach Brian Kelly was pleased with his squad's "outstanding defensive performances" in "two big wins," especially after last Saturday's last-second loss to Bucknell. "We had two big wins today that were highlighted by our defense," Kelly said.  "Lily Morris was solid in her first two starts of the season for us after returning from injury. The team really covered all over the pool for each other defensively. Outstanding defensive performances were turned in by many, especially Malia Naugle, Amelia Gonzalez, Jordan Van Reeken, Karsyn Stewart and Lola Trujillo."

UP NEXT

On Saturday, the Gaels face Harvard University at 2:30 p.m., and Chapman University at 7 p.m.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Be sure to follow Iona Athletics on all social media platforms:
IonaGaels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates)
Iona Water Polo: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates)
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Players Mentioned

Sydney Brightenburg

#11 Sydney Brightenburg

C
5' 4"
Graduate Student
Addison Collins

#10 Addison Collins

UT
5' 5"
Sophomore
Amelia Gonzalez

#7 Amelia Gonzalez

UT/CD
5' 4"
Junior
Kaya Hart

#24 Kaya Hart

UT
5' 8"
Junior
Malia Naugle

#8 Malia Naugle

CD
5' 7"
Graduate Student
Karsyn Stewart

#9 Karsyn Stewart

UT
5' 6"
Graduate Student
Lola Trujillo

#18 Lola Trujillo

UT
5' 9"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Sydney Brightenburg

#11 Sydney Brightenburg

5' 4"
Graduate Student
C
Addison Collins

#10 Addison Collins

5' 5"
Sophomore
UT
Amelia Gonzalez

#7 Amelia Gonzalez

5' 4"
Junior
UT/CD
Kaya Hart

#24 Kaya Hart

5' 8"
Junior
UT
Malia Naugle

#8 Malia Naugle

5' 7"
Graduate Student
CD
Karsyn Stewart

#9 Karsyn Stewart

5' 6"
Graduate Student
UT
Lola Trujillo

#18 Lola Trujillo

5' 9"
Freshman
UT