SAN DIEGO, CA - The seventh-seeded Iona College women's water polo team
earned seventh place at the 2012 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championships
with a 12-8 overtime victory over eighth-seeded Pomona-Pitzer Sunday
afternoon in the seventh place game held at the Aztec Aquaplex on the
campus of San Diego State University. The win marked the first NCAA
Championship victory in program history.
Iona took an early lead when senior Cecilia Leonard found an open Alyssa Turza,
who found the back off the net after shrugging off her defender as the
Gaels took a 1-0 lead. Iona would add their late later in the quarter
when sophomore Erika Lauraitis
skipped a shot past Pomona goalkeeper Sarah Tuggy. Pomona would
quickly respond as Mahalia Prater-Fahey and Sarah Westcott scored
back-to-back goal for the Sagehens to even the game at two at the end of
the first.
Iona would win the opening swimoff of the second quarter and take back
the lead when Turza found the net for the second time of the day.
Pomona would respond with a extra-man goal by Annie Oxborough-Yanks to
even things up before Iona closed the half on a 2-0 run. Leonard would
rifle a shot past Tuggy on a man-up opportunity for Iona before senior Caitlin McGregor
scored on a 2-1 break away after Pomona turned the ball over in the
Iona end of the pool as Iona heading into the half leading 5-3.
The third quarter was quiet as the two teams scored just one goal
apiece. Pomona cut the lead to one at 5-4 when Perri Hopkins converted a
man-up opportunity with 3:33 remaining in the third quarter. Lauraitis
responded with her second goal of the game to push the Iona lead back
to two heading to the fourth.
Pomona-Pitzer struck first in the fourth on a goal by Chrissie
Alving-Trinh, once again closing the Iona lead to one. On the next
possession, Pomona-Pitzer tied the game at six with 6:25 remaining on
Prater-Fahey's second tally of the day. Iona retook the lead when
Lauraitis got the ball on an Iona counter, swam up the pool and buried a
shot under the right arm of Tuggy with 4:42 on the clock. Leonard
would extend the lead back to two, converting a backhand shot off a pass
from senior Mackenie Mone with 3:30 remaining. Pomona would not quit,
as the Sagehens went on a 2-0 run to tie the game with 1:16 left.
First, a precise lob shot on the left shoulder of Iona sophomore
goalkeeper Marisa Gaynor
by Vicky Gyorffy cut the lead to one before Alyssa Woodward buried a
shot from the outside to knot up the contest. Pomona had a chance to
take the lead late in the contest, possessing the ball with 12 seconds
on the clock, but a turnover in the set helped the Gaels send the game
into overtime.
Iona would outscore the Sagehens 4-0 in the two extra frames. The first
two minutes of the first overtime went scoreless before a cross pass
from McGregor to Amy Olsen
resulted in a goal for the Gaels, the first of the weekend for the
sophomore two-meter. Olsen would then draw a five-meter exclusion,
allowing Leonard to convert a penalty shot to give Iona a two goal lead
with 31 seconds remaining. After the teams switched sides, Lauraitis
tossed a lob pass over the head of Tuggy for her fourth goal of the game
before Mone converted an open net goal with 10 seconds remaining to
propel the Gaels to a four goal victory.
In net, Gaynor recorded 15 saves while Tuggy ended with 12 stops. Iona
ends the 2012 season with a record of 25-13, while Pomona-Pitzer,
champions of the SCIAC, end the year with a 21-19 mark.