NEW ROCHELLE – Having qualified for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship with two MAAC wins yesterday, the Iona University women's water polo team was down by a single goal going into the final period to no. 25 Marist College, but closed out its regular season with a narrow 12-9 home conference loss in a match featuring six ties and two lead changes this afternoon at Hynes Pool.

GAME SUMMARY

Graduate student co-captain Jordan Van Reeken led the Maroon & Gold (16-12 overall, 7-6 MAAC) with four goals on eight shots, while freshman Jenna Handali scored three goals on six shots. Graduate student Karsyn Stewart and freshman Lola Trujillo added one goal apiece. The Gaels scored nine goals on 30 shots and made two assists.

In goal, junior Lily Morris made eight saves on 20 Red Foxes shots, made two steals with 12 goals against. On defense, Iona made seven steals with three by Van Reeken and graduate student co-captain Malia Naugle blocked one shot. Iona drew eleven Marist kickouts with four by Van Reeken, including a five-meter penalty, while being ejected ten times. Trujillo won all four swim offs. The Gaels turned the ball over 13 times. Iona scored five goals on ten woman-up chances, while Marist scored seven of ten chances.  

With 37 seconds gone in the match, Marist got on the board first. Trujillo capitalized on a 6-5 advantage to pull Iona even with 4:38 remaining in the opening period. Van Reeken's first score put the hosts up one 2-1, but the visitors answered on their next trip down the pool to knot the game at two each with 3:09 remaining. After the Red Foxes briefly retook a one-goal edge 3-2, Sallas' score at the two-minute mark evened the match at three each going into the second period.

Marist opened the second quarter with two straight scores, including a woman-up goal, to pull ahead two 5-3 with 2:59 gone. Van Reeken's second goal got the Gaels within one, then Handali knotted the match for the fourth time at five all at the three-minute mark. A Red Foxes' goal with 1:29 to go gave Marist a one-score 6-5 halftime edge. Van Reeken only needed 52 seconds into the second half to tie the game at six with her third goal. Marist retook a one-goal 7-6 on a 6-4 advantage just 1:10 later.  

After another Red Foxes score 30 ticks later, Handali sliced the visitor's edge back to one 8-7 on a woman-up chance with 5:07 on the clock. Marist went back up two 9-7 with 3:40 left, but Handali's third goal with 1:48 left pulled Iona back within one 9-8 going into the fourth quarter. With 28 seconds gone in the fourth period, Van Reeken buried a five-meter penalty shot into the back of the net to tie the game at one, then Marist retook a one-goal 10-9 edge on its next trip down the pool. A Red Foxes tip-in goal reupped the visitors' lead to two 11-9 at the 4:52 mark. Fifty seconds later, Marist sealed the win with a third straight goal as Iona failed to score in the final 4:02.

COACH THOUGHTS

While disappointed with his squad not taking advantage of 6-on-5 chances, Iona head coach Brian Kelly intends to get his team ready for a strong championship run. "It was an exciting back-and-forth game," Kelly said. "We need to do a better job with our 6-on-5s. That really hurt us today. We had opportunities to put ourselves in a chance to win and we weren't good enough."

UP NEXT

Iona will play in the opening round of the MAAC Championship hosted by Marist College in Poughkeepsie on Friday, April 28.

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