LEXINGTON, Va. -- It was a historic day in Lexington, Va. as the Virginia Military Institute women's water polo team hosted a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference weekend for the first time in the program's young history. The Keydets opened MAAC play with two of the league top teams, squaring off with Iona College and Marist College.

The Keydets dropped both of their games on Saturday, falling to Iona, the conference's two-time defending champion 15-6 in the opener and dropped a 13-6 decision to Marist, which won the league crown three years in a row from 2008-10.

In the first-ever MAAC game at Clark King Pool, VMI got its scoring from four different sources, led by a pair of goals from sophomore captain Celine Lazzaro and freshman Joyce Zabala, both making their Lexington debuts. Lazzaro was sidelined last season with an upper body injury. Mackenzie Perkins, VMI's leading scorer last season, netted a goal as did Zabala's classmate, Caitlyn Jackson.

Iona had a force on its offense in Erika Lauraitis, who scored eight goals, a Clark King Pool record. Taylor Silva, Sarah Hanly, Georgina Lee and Sara Bortz all struck once while Alyssa Turza was the Gaels' only other multiple-goal scorer as she potted a pair.

In goal, VMI's rookie netminder Molly Watkins made 10 saves, including a five-stop effort in the third quarter. Iona got eight saves from its keeper, Marisa Gaynor.

After a 2-1 Iona advantage through the first eight minutes, the Gaels scored five goals in the second quarter, including a trio from Lauraitis. But the Keydets kept things close with three goals in the second as well, with two from the hand of Zabala and one from Lazzaro. Iona took a 7-4 advantage into the halftime break.

But the Gaels came out firing in the third, striking four times with Lauraitis leading the way again with three more tallies. The Keydets were stymied by Gaynor who had three stops in the third. VMI rallied with two goals in the fourth, but Iona struck another four times en route to the 15-6 victory.

Game two for VMI saw the Keydets take on Marist. Once again, VMI got goals from four different players, led by another pair from Perkins while Justina Dunne scored twice. Lazzaro extended her scoring streak to six games, her second-longest scoring streak of the season. Zabala kicked in another goal for the Keydets as well.

Seven different Red Foxes scored during the day's fourth game, led by Anna-Lena Hathaway's trio. Shelby Rinker, Robyn Crabtree and Ellie Hoffman all scored two goals. The trio of Alison Hamby, Jessica Hamby and Yuriria Chavez scored once each.

Watkins, who was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week on March 12, posted another double-digit save game with 11, led by four in the first quarter and three in each of the second and third stanzas. Marist's Rebecca Thomas, made 10 saves, with six in the first half and another four in the last two quarters.

The Red Foxes jumped out to a four-goal lead at the end of the first period, but VMI clawed back in with Dunne and Perkins scoring once each in the second. Marist held an 8-2 advantage at halftime. The Red Foxes continued to hold the lead after out-scoring VMI 2-1 in the third, but the teams tied 3-3 in the fourth. Zabala, Dunne and Perkins all scored in the final stanza for VMI.

More history was made during the six-game afternoon as two MAAC titans, Iona and Wagner College, each with three MAAC titles to their names, clashed for an epic tilt. The Gaels and Seahawks needed more than overtime to determine a winner as Iona pulled out a 12-11 victory in a second sudden victory period. The game will go into the Clark King Pool record books as the longest water polo game, spanning over 41 minutes before Amy Olsen scored the game-winner with 1:33 left in the second sudden victory stanza.

In the second game of the day, Marist bested St. Francis Brooklyn 19-8, led by Hannah Levien's four goals. Game three saw Wagner upend Siena 16-7, followed by the Keydets' game with Marist. The final game of day one was impressive as St. Francis bester Siena 18-12, giving the Terriers not only their first MAAC win of 2013, but the team's first overall victory as well.

MAAC play continues on Sunday with another six-game day. The Keydets will play another pair, taking on Siena at 10:30 a.m. and round out the weekend with a tilt against St. Francis at 4:30 p.m. Sunday's action kickoffs with Villanova University and Wagner at 9 a.m. and will continue at noon with Iona and Villanova. St. Francis and Wagner square off at 1:30 p.m. Iona and Siena will play the final game that does not involve VMI at 3 p.m. Villanova had a bye for the first day of competition, while Marist will enjoy the pleasure on Sunday.