NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Competing in the last round of league games before the conference tournament in two weeks, the VMI water polo team fell to No.19 Wagner College and host Iona College Saturday in New Rochelle, New York.
The Keydets (9-15, 3-7) dropped their morning matchup with No. 19 Wagner (21-7, 8-1) by a final score of 23-8 before dropping the afternoon game with the host Gaels (20-12, 6-3) by a 17-11 tally.
"After a rocky start to the day, the team's effort was tremendous against Iona,” said VMI head coach Ryan Pryor. “The game got away from us a bit in the last few minutes, but they fought for each other throughout. I'm very proud of the way they played and we hope to bring that same intensity tomorrow against St. Francis and Siena."
The Seahawks jumped up early on the Keydets, scoring seven goals in the opening quarter before Shelby Barkley scored two for VMI to provide the Keydets an 8-2 deficit going into the second. Wagner would gain a 12-2 advantage before Barkley put in two more goals to lead VMI into the half down 14-4.
Barkley totaled five goals in the game, marking the fourth game this season she has scored five or more in a single match. She now has a team-best 49 for the season.
VMI's Haley Scott and Rebecca Serrano scored unassisted goals in the third period while freshman Natalie Rivas put one in during the fourth period in the loss. National goals leader Jess Lundgren scored five goals to lead the Seahawks while Lily Doerfler scored four.
Emily Riddle earned the win in the cage as VMI's Emily Farsakian picked up the loss despite five saves during the game.
vs. Iona College
Although the Keydets went goal-for-goal in the second and third periods and nearly shot-for-shot throughout the game with Saturday's host school, the Gaels outscored VMI in the first and fourth quarters to earn the 17-11 victory in the afternoon game.
Cecilya Lundy scored first in the game off an assist from Barkley to give VMI an early lead, but Iona scored three unanswered goals for the remainder of the first period and did not look back. The Gaels had 26 shot attempts to the Keydets' 27 and neither team could take advantage of powerplay opportunities as the Gaels went 0-10 and the Keydets 0-6.
Rivas scored the Keydets' first goal of the second period while Barkley, Bailey Huddleston, Lundy and Mackenzie Perkins also logged goals as VMI went into the break with a slim 8-6 disadvantage. Celine Lazzaro, Serrano and Perkins scored for the Keydets in the third but were matched by the Gaels as Iona entered the fourth quarter with an 11-9 advantage.
Momentum went in favor of the hosts in the final period as the Gaels outscored VMI, 6-2, in the last eight minutes to earn the win.
Iona's Hannah Schultz led the way with six goals for the Gaels while Rivas led the Keydets with three for the afternoon. Perkins and Lundy each scored two during the game to help the offense.
VMI returns to the pool Sunday for two games hosted by Wagner. The Keydets face St. Francis at 10:30 a.m. before squaring off with Siena at 2:30 p.m. on Staten Island, New York.
