PROVIDENCE, RI – After leading 2-0 in the opening six minutes, the Iona women's water polo team allowed eight unanswered scores to start this season with a 11-8 non-conference match loss to number-22 ranked Brown University this afternoon.
GAME SUMMARY
Seniors Lola Trujillo (five shots) and Sadie Sallas (eight shots) led the Maroon and Gold with three goals each, while junior Maleah Penman and sophomore Nicole Morrison had one goal apiece. The Gaels scored eight goals on 29 shots with five assists.
Making her Iona debut in goal, freshman MJ Metzdorf had nine saves on 29 Brown shots, including stopping a five-meter penalty shot, and eleven goals against. On defense, the Gaels made four steals, with two by freshman Fiona Rowe. Iona drew four Brown kickouts, with three by Sallas, including two five-meter penalties, while being ejected three times, including one five-meter penalty. Trujillo won two of four swim offs.
Trujillo needed only 31 seconds to put Iona on the board for a 1-0 lead, then struck again on the Gaels' next chance to go up two, 2-0, with 6:43 to go in the opening period. Brown finally answered at the 2:05 mark to slice the Iona edge to one, 2-1. The Bears evened the score at two-all with 1:30 left. Just 43 ticks later, the hosts took a one-goal lead, 3-2, going into the second period.
Neither squad scored in the second quarter until the Bears hit their fourth straight goal for a 4-2 lead with 1:46 left. With 28 ticks remaining, the Bears tacked on another unanswered goal for a 5-2 lead going into the second half, as the Gaels failed to score in the second period.
In the opening 1:12 of the third quarter, Brown added to more goals on a 7-0 run to go up five, 7-2. Another home goal with 4:20 on the clock gave the Bears an 8-2 edge. Sallas broke the Iona offensive drought with a five-meter penalty goal to get the Gaels within five, 8-3, at the 2:26 mark. Sallas recorded her second goal just 1:02 later to slice the Brown advantage to four, 8-4. Trujillo nailed her first hat trick of the season at the buzzer to get Iona within three, 8-5, on a 3-0 Iona run.
With 2:14 gone in the final quarter, the Bears hit two straight scores to go back up five, 10-5. Perman cut the Brown lead back to four, 10-6, but the hosts answered on their next chance to go up five, 11-6, with 4:41 left. Only 28 seconds later, Morrison's five-meter penalty goal got Iona back within four, 11-7. Sallas' third score cut the home edge to three, 11-8, with 1:38 remaining, as the Iona rally fell short.
COACH THOUGHTS
While pleased with "a solid game" both offensively and defensively in his new squad's first match, Iona head coach Brian Kelly thought that a better second quarter performance would have changed the final score. "We played a solid game on both ends of the pool," Kelly said. "We had a bad stretch in the second quarter where our mistakes led to counter goals. If we cleaned up that stretch, we might have been looking at a different result."
UP NEXT
Iona returns to New England next weekend for four non-conference road matches. On Saturday, the Gaels travel to Cambridge, MA, to face Bucknell University at 10:30 a.m. ET and host Harvard University at 5 p.m. On Sunday in Providence, RI, the Gaels face Chapman University at 8:30 a.m. and Marist University at 1:30 p.m. ET.
