POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – An early first half penalty kick proved to be the difference as the Iona Gaels (6-3-2, 3-0-0 MAAC) defeated the Marist Red Foxes (5-3-3, 1-1-1 MAAC) 2-0 Wednesday night at Tenney Stadium.

The Red Foxes fell behind early when a push inside the box in the 10th minute gave Iona’s Ignacio Maganto the chance to step up and knock the penalty past freshman goalkeeper Mark Rajovic(Katonah, N.Y.).

Marist rebounded by peppering shots on the net from free kicks and counter attacks. The Red Foxes finished the first half with nine shots to Iona’s four but were unable to put one past Iona goalkeeper Julian Petrello.

The second half was more of the same as the Red Foxes controlled the midfield looking for an equalizer. A foul in the box on Iona in the 74th minute gave Marist a golden opportunity to tie the game but Iona’s Petrello came up with a huge penalty save to secure Iona’s lead.

“That was the difference in the game,” said head coach Matt Viggiano. “They made their penalty and we didn’t.”

Iona’s Jon-Luke Ferrandino added a breakaway goal in the 87th minute to lengthen the lead for the Gaels but the first goal ended up being enough to hold off the Red Foxes attack.

Senior defenseman MJ Stellwag (Newburgh, N.Y.) contributed with five shots in the game while freshman midfielder Erik Dahl(Helsingborgs, Sweden) had four shots, including two on goal. The Red Foxes finished the game outshooting the Gaels 14-11. Rajovic finished the game with six saves.

The Red Foxes return to action Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 7 P.M. when they host Quinnipiac in a conference game.