VILLANOVA, PA –  For the second straight day, the Iona women's water polo team split its two non-conference matches with a 15-10 win over Gannon University and a 16-11 loss to Mount Saint Mary's University in the 2025 Wildcat Invitational this weekend hosted by Villanova University.

Iona 15 Gannon 10

After a second-quarter tie and leading by just three at halftime, Iona outscored Gannon 7-4 in the second half for a 15-10 win in today's first match. Freshman Vanessa McNabb led the Maroon and Gold (2-2 overall) with six goals on seven shots, while freshman Olivia Weismann scored three goals on six shots. Junior co-captain Lola Trujillo had two goals on four shots and junior Lea Preston, sophomore Kaitlyn Williams, freshman Grace Goldhammer and freshman Anna O'Malley added one goal each.

In goal, freshman Ella Dean had ten saves and ten goals against. On defense, the Gaels made 12 steals with five by Trujillo.  Iona drew Gannon 11 kickouts with four by Goldhammer, including two five-meter penalties, while being ejected 12 times. Freshman Desmond Bailey blocked one shot. The Gaels turned the ball over nine times. Iona scored on three of eight woman-up chances, while Gannon capitalized on four of nine woman-up chances. Trujillo won two of four swim offs.  

Three goals on their first three possessions – two from McNabb and one from Trujillo – gave the Gaels a 3-0 advantage with 1:32 gone in the match. Gannon got on the board 32 seconds later to slice the Iona edge to two 3-1.    The Golden Knights missed a five-meter penalty chance, they found the back of the Iona net to pull within one 3-2 with three minutes to go. With 39 ticks left, Trujillo buried a five-meter penalty shot to restore a two-goal 4-2 Gaels edge going into the second period.

After Gannon narrowed the Iona lead to one 4-3 on the first second-quarter possession, Williams put the Gaels back up two 5-3 with 57 seconds gone. Two straight Golden Knights scored tied the match at five all with 5:30 remaining.   Iona regained a one-goal advantage 6-5 on Weissman's woman-up goal at the 4:29 mark. Sparking a 3-0 run quarter-closing run, McNabb's third goal and O'Malley's first put Iona back up three 8-5 at halftime.

Gannon scored with 43 seconds gone in the third period to cut the Iona margin to two 8-6 until McNabb's fourth goal on a five-meter penalty put the Gaels back up three 9-6 with 5:33 left.  Following a Golden Knights goal, two straight Gaels scores from McNabb and Goldhammer increased the Iona edge to four 11-7 with 4:03 remaining. McNabb's sixth score continued a 3-0 Gaels run for a five-goal 12-7 advantage with 3:07 to go.   

After a Gannon goal, Weissman restored the five-goal lead 13-8 with 1:48 remaining. Gannon struck again, but so did Weissman with 27 seconds left for a 14-9 Iona margin going into the final period. Both squads managed only one goal each in the final period. Preston increased the Gaels lead to six 15-9 with 5:49 remaining in regulation.  Gannon scored with 27 seconds to go. 

Mount Saint Mary's 16  Iona 11

Although tying the match with a minute gone in the second half, Iona was outscored 9-7 the rest of the way for a 16-11 non-conference loss to Mount Saint Mary's in today's second contest. McNabb again led the Maroon and Gold with four goals on seven shots, while Trujillo and freshman Bailey Desmond had two goals each.  Williams, Goldhammer and Weissman added one goal apiece. The Gaels scored 11 goals on 25 shots on two assists by Williams and Weissman.  

In goal, graduate student Lily Morris had ten saves, three and 16 goals against. On defense, the Gaels made ten steals with two by Trujillo. Iona drew Mount 12 kickouts with five by McNabb and four by Trujillo, including six five-meter penalties, while being ejected 11 times. The Gaels turned the ball over seven times. Iona did not score on seven woman-up chances, while the Mount capitalized on six of 11 woman-up chances. Trujillo and Goldhammer each won two of four swim offs. 
 
The Mountaineers took a 3-0 lead on three consecutive goals with three minutes gone in the match. McNabb got Iona on the board with a five-meter penalty goal to cut the Mount edge to two 3-1 with 4:04 left.  On the Gaels next possession, Goldhammer got the Gaels within one 3-2 with 2:17 to go.   After a Mountaineers score, McNabb's second goal with 54 ticks left chopped the Mount's lead back to one 4-3. With 1:01 gone in the second period. The Mount retook a two-point edge, but Desmond's first Iona goal got the Gaels back within one 5-1 with 6:16 to go. The Mountaineers scored on their next two chances for a 7-4 advantage with 4:36 on the clock.   Desmond struck again followed by McNabb's third goal to get Iona back within one 7-6 with 2:52 remaining to halftime.

The Gaels needed only a minute into the third period to tie the match at seven-all on McNabb's five-meter penalty goal. But the Mount answered with four straight scores to go back up four 11-7 with 3:30 to go. Two unanswered Iona goals by Weissman and Williams ended the Mountaineers' 4-0 run to cut their edge back to two 11-9 with 2:33 left.

The Mount opened the final period with two straight goals to regain a four-score margin 13-9 with 5:18 left in regulation.  After McNabb's five-meter penalty shot went wide of the cage, Trujillo buried her five-meter chance 43 ticks later to put the Gaels back within three 13-10 with 4:12 on the clock. The Mountaineers answered to go back up four 14-10 at the 2:25 mark. With 1:30 left, Trujillo hit her second five-meter penalty shot of the period to cut The Mount's edge to three 14-11. Two straight Mountaineers goals, including a five-meter penalty score, in the closing 1:13 sealed their 16-11 win.

COACH THOUGHTS

"This weekend really tested our fortitude. We were missing three key players going into the weekend and we lost two more starters from Saturday to Sunday. I'm very proud of how we responded as a team. Iona head coach Brian Kelly was pleased with his team's opening week, especially the contributions by many of the squad's newcomer.

"Everyone who was dressed really stepped up today and contributed.  We had a nice win versus a solid Gannon team that was led by Ella Dean in goal, getting her first collegiate win. In the second game, we played an excellent Mount Saint Mary's team and put ourselves in a position to win the game. 

"We got some great performances from many of our newcomers, especially redshirt sophomore Vanessa McNabb, freshmen Grace Goldhammer, Bailey Desmond, Olivia Weissman, Ella Ferguson and  Olivia Weissman."

UP NEXT

Next weekend, the Gaels travel to Providence, RI, for the 2025 Bruno Classic.   On Saturday, Iona faces host Brown University at 12:40 p.m. ET and the University of Redlands at 4:40 p.m. ET.  On Sunday, the Gaels take on Salem University at 8 a.m. ET.