RIVERDALE, N.Y.- Senior Julia Lavelle and junior Chrissy Gutenberger each had three goals but the Manhattan women's lacrosse team fell to Iona 11-8 Sunday afternoon at Mazzella Field.
The first game of the 2011 MAAC season, Manhattan (3-5, 0-1 MAAC) rallied from an early 2-0 deficit but gave up five unanswered goals to the Gaels (3-7, 1-0 MAAC) late in the first period to all but seal a victory for Iona.
Trailing by two with 23:37 remaining in the first half, the Lady Jaspers struck for three straight goals, one from Lavelle and two for Gutenberger to take a 3-2 lead at the 16:26 mark of the opening period.
From there, the Gaels would storm back, collecting seven of the next eight scores to take a 9-4 advantage heading into the break. In the second period, Manhattan picked up their game, recording four of the six final tallies but it was not enough as they fell 11-8.
Overall, the Lady Jaspers held advantages over Iona in shots (25-21), ground balls (15-11) and draw controls (15-6).
In net, Maria Ortiz made 13 saves to record the win. For Manhattan, sophomore Julia DiBernardo stopped four shots in the loss.
The Lady Jaspers look to rebound Friday when they travel to Buffalo, N.Y. to take on Canisius. First draw is set for 7 p.m.
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