The Iona College women’s water polo team kicked off their season this past weekend in a home tournament at the Hynes Center Pool hosting Harvard, Villanova and New York Athletic Club. The Gaels topped all of their competitors finishing the weekend 3-0.

The Gaels started the invite off strong, facing top competitor Harvard University. Junior Alyssa Turza opened up scoring early in the game, setting the tone for the rest of the match.

The Crimson attack battled back after the Gaels took a five goal lead in the third quarter, but their efforts fell short as Iona held them off in the final seconds for a 15-14 win.

Turza found the net five times and contributed an assist. Sophomore Amy Olsen had four goals, two assists and one steal, while senior Mackenzie Mone had four goals and two steals. Senior Cecilia Leonard had two goals, two assists and one steal.

Sophomores Erika Lauraitis and Sarah Hanly each had one assist. Sophomore Marisa Gaynor played an outstanding game with 10 saves in net for the Maroon and Gold.

Coach Brian Kelly was proud of his team’s first win.

“A great opening win for us. Both teams played great water polo in spots and sloppy water polo at times,” said Kelly. “That is what you see early on in the season. It was an excellent win to start the season versus a Harvard team that is one of the best teams in the East. Our 2 meter play was outstanding. Turza and Olsen combined for nine goals, which really opened things up for everyone. Gaynor played tremendous in goal and made some big saves to end Harvard’s 4th quarter comeback.”

Kelly has high hopes after strong early results from his team in what looks to be a great upcoming season.

Iona continued their weekend domination over conference rival Villanova with a 16-7 final score for the match. The Wildcats came out strong only trailing by two goals at the half, but they were no match for Iona’s strong defense as the Gaels outscored them 8-1 to end the contest.

“A quality win against a gritty Nova squad that came to play, and didn’t get discouraged when we started off well,” said Kelly. “They fought back and were the aggressor. We picked up our defense and changed the momentum back in our favor.”

Olsen led the way for the Gaels, scoring six times. Hanly had three goals, while Mone had two goals and two assists. Leonard contributed on both ends of the pool, with two goals and two steals.

Lauraitis, sophomore Georgina Lee and freshman Ashley DeMarzo each found the net in the game for the first time this season. Gaynor had three saves in the net, one steal and one assist. Freshman Devin Green had three saves and two assists while filling in for Gaynor.

The Gaels’ final game against NYAC was an exhibition match consisting of graduated players from Harvard, Princeton and Stanford. The team came out hard, clinching their final win for the weekend 14-12, with notable performances by Olsen, Lauraitis and Turza.

The Gaels are back in action Feb. 25 at the Princeton Invite.