POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.- The Villanova water polo team (6-14 overall, 4-5 MAAC) fell to Iona 15-9 and defeated St. Francis 14-13. The team wraps up play in Poughkeepsie tomorrow when they face Siena at 1:30 p.m.

Villanova vs. Iona

Iona would score the first goal of the game with 6:55 left in the first quarter to give the Gaels a 1-0 lead. Not long after Villanova would get on the board a score a goal to tie the game up 1-1 courtesy of senior senior Dominique Clark with 5:15 remaining in the first quarter. Iona would score four more goals to close the first quarter to make the score 5-1 at the end of one.

The second quarter would begin with Iona scoring two quick goals to increase their lead to 7-1 with 6:33 remaining in the half. Then, Dominique Clark would score her second goal of the day to shrink the Iona lead to 7-2 with 5:20 remaining in the quarter. Not long after the Wildcats would find the net again with 4:04 remaining courtesy of freshman Malia Gacutan to make the score 7-3. After an Iona goal made the score 8-3, Dominique Clark would score again making that her third goal of the day to make the score 8-4 with 3:07 remaining in the quarter.

Then with 2:50 in the half the Wildcats would score again this time courtesy of freshman Kate Murray to make the score 8-5. Villanova would add one more goal as they out scored Iona in the second quarter 5-2 as the last goal was scored by freshman Charlotte Curran.

Clark would begin the third with a goal making that her fourth of the day to cut the Iona lead to just two with the score being 9-7. After a pair of Iona goals made the score 11-7 with 3:10 remaining in the quarter, Malia Gacutan would find the net again to cut the score to 11-8 with 3:18 remaining in the quarter. Strong defense by Villanova would hold off the Gaels to just one more goal in the quarter closing the quarter with the score 12-8.

Iona would find the net three more times in the fourth before junior Shannon Paparella would score to make the final score 15-9 Iona.

Villanova vs. St. Francis

St. Francis scored the first goal of the game to take an early 1-0 But then Villanova would find the net courtesy of senior drive Sara Lynn Abele to make the score 1-1. On the next play in the quarter, senior Dominique Clark would score to take the lead at 2-1. After St. Francis found the net to tie the game up at 2-2, junior Katie French would score for the Wildcats to take back the lead at 3-2. Villanova would increase their lead to 4-2 following a goal by freshman Malia Gacutan. St. Francis would close the quarter with two goals to make the score 4-4 after one.

Freshman Charlotte Curran would begin the second quarter with a goal to make the score 5-4. Shortly after, St. Francis would come back to tie the game at 5-5 heading into the fifth minute of play. Then with 5:31 left in the half, Sara Lynn Abele would find the net again for the Wildcats and gave the Wildcats back the lead at 6-5. St. Francis would score two quick goals to regain the lead at 7-6 with 3:39 left in the quarter. Then, freshman Malia Gacutan would score her second goal of the game to tie the game up 7-7 with 3:01 remaining in the half. A pair of goals by Dominique Clark would make the score 9-9 after St. Francis score two before. St. Francis would add one more to make the score 10-9 heading into the third quarter.

Katie French would find the net to begin the quarter which tied up the game at 10-10 with six minutes remaining the third quarter. After a pair of goals by St. Francis gave them the lead 12-10 with 3:06 remaining in the quarter, Charlotte Curran would find the net for the Wildcats with :56 seconds remaining and closed the quarter with the score 12-11 St. Francis.

It was a true nail-bitter heading into the fourth as Villanova would tie the game up at 12-12 after a goal by Curran again with 4:47 left in the regulation time. The Wildcats would score two more straight goals after that courtesy of Curran and Clark to give the Wildcats a 14-12 lead with 3:06 remaining. Tight defense by Villanova would hold the Terriers to just one more goal to make the final score 14-13. Villanova improves to 6-14 overall while St. Francis fell to 4-15 overall.

Up Next

The team wraps up play in Poughkeepsie tomorrow when they face Siena at 1:30 p.m.