NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College women's soccer team defeated St. Francis Brooklyn 3-2 on Wednesday afternoon at Mazzella Field. The Gaels battled back from a two-goal deficit to secure their second win of the season.

GAME SUMMARY

St. Francis Brooklyn got off to a roaring start; Henriette Lykke scored on a breakaway in the opening five minutes. Lykke beat goalkeeper Angelina DeCicco, who came deep out of the box to try and stop the free rush. The goal was the first of the season for the Terriers.
 
Senior Amber Crispin had Iona's best chance in the early portion of the match, firing a shot up and over the cage on the right side. The Terriers had a chance on a corner kick, but the shot from Maggie Motolease was too high.
 
The Gaels had corner kick chances in the 23rd and 26th minutes, but nothing came of those opportunities. Freshmen Samantha Hogan and Sofia Giamancoeach had chances in the 36^thminute to tie the match, but both came up empty. Hogan had the first try, which was deflected by Klil Keshwar in net and Giamanco's shot off the rebound hit the side of the net.
 
A little over a minute later, sophomores Andrea Ferrer and Faith Preziosi had almost the exact same play unfold. Keshwar saved Preziosi's initial shot and this time it was Ferrer who had her rebound opportunity stopped. The Gaels tried two more shots in the final minute of the first half, but after 45 full minutes trailed by a goal.
 
Exactly three minutes into second-half action, the Terriers lead grew. Lykke assisted on a goal by Maya Madjercic, the third point of the afternoon for the first-goal scorer of the St. Francis Brooklyn women's soccer program.
 
In the 53rd minute, Ferrer tapped a ball past Keshwar that slowly rolled towards the endline; Crispin sprinted after it and caught up to it at the very last minute, redirecting it into the back of the net. Iona's celebration was interrupted by the side judge who stood near the far corner with his flag raised, signifying that Crispin was offside and that the goal did not count.
 
Five minutes later, Preziosi had a free run into the Terrier defensive zone. The sophomore cut towards the middle of the pitch, made a nifty move to get around the sliding Keshwar and finished to cut the Gaels' deficit in half.
 
With just 15 minutes left on the clock, Preziosi struck again to tie the match. Hogan had a one-on-one opportunity down the near sideline and fed a pass to a streaking Preziosi who ripped one past the keeper for her second score of the afternoon. The goal was her fifth of the season.
 
Crispin would put the icing on the cake for the Maroon & Gold, scoring on a beautiful pass she received from Ferrer to give Iona its first lead of the afternoon in the 84th minute.
 
St. Francis would have one more chance in the final 30 seconds of the match; Lykke's left-foot shot was a missile from just outside the box, but it sailed past the right post and out of bounds. Her teammate put the ball right on her foot with no defense in sight, but DeCicco was able to slide in and affect the shot enough that Iona narrowly escaped with the victory in regulation.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Preziosi scored her team-leading fourth and fifth goals of the season. The sophomore entered play today one goal behind a three-way tie for the league lead.
• Crispin scored her fourth goal of the season in the victory; the goal officially moved her into a tie for fourth place in program history (14 goals) and gave her sole possession of sixth place in points (32).
• Crispin's tally was also the game-winner, which was the first of the senior's career.
• DeCicco made the first start of her career for Iona, securing her second win of the season. Elsenheimer, Peschetti and Zawadzki also started for the first time this season.
• The Maroon & Gold outscored the Terriers 3-1 in the second half. Entering today, Iona had previously been outscored 12-4 in the second period.
• The Gaels totaled 16 shots on the afternoon, eight of which were on goal. The Terriers tried just seven shots in the match, a season-low for an Iona opponent.

UP NEXT

Iona will play its first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game of the season when they travel to face Marist this Sunday. The match will be the first of three consecutive away from home for the Maroon & Gold.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Be sure to follow Iona College athletics and women's soccer on all social media platforms:
ICGaels: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (E-Mail Updates)
Iona Women's Soccer: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (E-Mail Updates)

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