California Baptist University
Iona College
Off Target
3/14/2013 7:46:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- California Baptist University aimed for its 10th win in 11 games on Wednesday, but they missed their mark and lost 10-9 to Iona, despite having far more scoring opportunities.
The Lancers entered the game as heavy favorites, having only lost once in seven previous matchups. It was easy to tell early on though, that something was not clicking today.
"I am disappointed with the loss, it was a game we could have won," said Head Coach Jacob Medina. "Iona played well. They are a good team, and I think we had our chances. We just did not make them count."
CBU suffered an offensive setback due to some poor shot selection, poor shot location and the 13 saves by Iona's Marisa Gaynor.
It was a back-and-forth game throughout, and one that either team could have won if the pieces fell together. The pieces did fall together for Iona, led by five goals from Amy Olson. This is the Gaels fifth win of the season.
Neither team fared well on 6-on-5 chances, as the Lancers were 1-4 and the Gaels only 1-7.
Meghan Rowland played well in goal for the Lancers, blocking 12 shots, including a penalty shot in the fourth quarter.
That penalty block was key, as CBU had fallen behind 9-6, and was working on closing the gap when the block occurred.
Just a moment later, a goal from Morgan Barrows tied the game at nine with :26 left in the game.
"I was definitely pleased with the amount of opportunities our offense generated, and that we fought back to tie it at the end of the game, we showed a lot of resilience in doing that," said Medina.
The ninth goal was good, but not good enough, as Olson buried her fifth with just :11 left in the game, to finish the Lancers.
Laura Kocsis again led the CBU with four goals, Hannah Evans had two and Barrows, Briana Tryon and Samantha Banks each had one.
The loss moves the Lancers to 10-11 as they move into the next Lancer Invite. CBU will host two days of water polo at the Lancer Aquatic Center this weekend, March 15-16.
In their day to prepare for the tournament, Medina says the team will work on its shooting and cutting down their number of exclusions.
