THE Rundown

The Gaels fell behind early in Connecticut, with the hosts scoring in the opening minute. Despite the early setback, Piekutowski kept the Maroon & Gold in the game, recording five saves in the opening six minutes before Vincent Pititto slotted home Iona's opener in with eight minutes to go in the first. Kyle Hardie later scored off a Jake Riglietti assist making it two first stanza goals for the Gaels. With a pair of responses from the hosts, Iona headed out of the first period down by a score of 3-2. 

The Maroon & Gold scored three unanswered to open the second quarter, with Cullen Lawry, Kolbe Curtin, and Vincent Pititto all taking part in the scoring spree. The Bobcats put two in the Iona net in the final couple of minutes to take each side into the break locked at 5-5. 

Quinnipiac found the second half opener six minutes into the period, but Cullen Lawry drew the Gaels level again with an assist from Pititto. Off a Max Monzo rocket slotted in the bottom left corner of the Bobcats' net, the Gaels stormed back into the lead. Jack Martinez then found Jimmy Kennedy who ripped a shot home as the Gaels extended their lead to two with only eight ticks left on the clock. The third quarter would end with Iona up by a score of 8-6. 

Quinnipiac opened the final quarter with a goal before the Gaels took advantage of a man-up situation where the hosts' starting keeper was serving a penalty. With a Quinnipiac backup keeper in the crease, both Jack Martinez and Cullen Lawry scored within a minute to stretch their lead back to two. Lawry scored two more to complete a fourth quarter hat-trick. The Bobcats posted one more point on the board, but the four-goal final period total from the Gaels would be too much for the hosts as Iona took the victory by a score of 12-8. 

The four-goal win stands as Iona's first ever win in MAAC play, and their second win in program history.  

IONA PERFORMERS

• Denny Piekutowski backstopped the historic Iona win with 18 saves and a career-high .692 save percentage. The Iona keeper has now strung together six games with double-digit saves.  
• Cullen Lawry matched his career high with five goals for Iona, relentlessly firing off a game-high 13 shots, with six landing on frame.  
• Vincent Pititto was the second Gael to reach at least five-points, tallying six with a pair of goals and four assists. The points total from the Commack, New York native is his career-high.
• Jack Martinez had a one goal, two assist performance. Martinez's assist total tied his season best.  
• Kyle Hardie finished with two points in a one goal, one assist outing. 
• Jake Riglietti dished out two assists, taking one shot and scooping up one ground ball. The assist tally tied his career-high. 
• Jimmy Kennedy, Max Monzo, and Kolbe Curtin took home one goal apiece.  
• Jaxson Davis co-led all players with four ground balls, and caused one turnover.  

THE OPPONENT

• Justin Robbert fired off ten shots, and led the Bobcats with three points off a two-goal, one-assist outing. 
• Nate watson was the second from Quinnipiac to tally three points with one goal and two assists. 

Up Next

The Gaels look to continue their momentum as they host Merrimack at 2:00 p.m. next Saturday.