Black Knights Hold Off Iona on the Road

Wednesday, February 28

New Rochelle, NY

3 PM

Army West Point

3-2

Iona

3-2

Army West Point

Iona College

Black Knights Hold Off Iona on the Road

February 28, 2018 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – The Army West Point women's lacrosse team defeated Iona on the road, 9-6, on Wednesday afternoon at Mazzella Field.

The Black Knights improved to 3-2 on the season, while the Gaels fell to 3-2.

Army collected the game's first goal a little more than three minutes into the contest when Maddie Miller came out from behind the cage to find rookie Jackie Brattan waiting on the doorstep. The two defensive units tightened up from there, however, as neither team scored again until there was 17:34 remaining in the opening period. A costly turnover gave the home team good field position which the Gaels turned into the equalizing score.

The goals came in a flurry after that, with three shots finding the back of the cage over the next three minutes. Rachel Hornick handed the lead back to the Black Knights at the 16:03 mark off a pass from Miller before Brattan added an insurance tally 52-seconds later. Iona responded within the next 60 seconds, however, on a free position goal to trim the lead back down to one, 3-2. Army answered with two more tallies of its own to head into the break with a 5-2 edge.

The Gaels struck first in the final 30 minutes to get back within two of the Cadets, but a goal by Manuela Cortes at the 19:39 mark sparked a quick 3-0 run for Army to give the visitors a comfortable lead. A pair of nearly identical goals by Cameron Manor closed out the scoring frenzy by the Black Knights, as both tallies were assisted by Hornick and were 60 seconds apart. Army now held an 8-3 advantage on the scoreboard with 17:52 left.

Yet another free position goal for Iona halted the run and cut Army's lead in half, 8-4, before the Gaels managed three-straight scores of their own to make it an 8-6 game. That would be as close as they would get, however, as the Black Knights managed the clock over the final 10 minutes of the game to hold off the Iona attack.

Hornick notched a game-high four points on a goal and an assist, while Brattan and Manor tied for the most goals in the game with two each. Cortes, Samantha Stewart, Amy Johnston and Mikayla Bergin also found the back of the cage for the Black Knights, while Kiersten Spencer and Rilee Scott added their names to the score sheets with an assist.

Brattan and Juliana Dworschak also led all players in draw controls with six and four, respectively. In net, Maddie Burns made a season-high nine saves in the win.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Army has netted the first goal in four of its first five games.
The Black Knights' streak of scoring double-digit goals was halted at seven games, the longest such stretch in program history.
Johnston has scored a goal in each of the last 11 contests dating back to last season.
Hornick posted a goal and an assist for the fourth-straight game.
Hornick dished out three assists for the second time this season.
Miller documented her fifth multi-point game of the year.
The Cadets outshot the Gaels, 23-21, while the two sides tied in shots on goal with 15 apiece.
Burns outdueled her counterpart with a 9-6 advantage in saves.
The Black Knights controlled 12-of-17 draws in the game and were successful on 16-of-19 clear attempts.
Iona was 12-for-20 on successful clears.

WHAT'S THE WORD?

Noto Family Head Women's Lacrosse Coach Kristen Skiera – "I am super impressed with the team's toughness and cohesion today. Our defense did a great job executing the game plan. Jackie Brattan and Juliana Dworschak did a phenomenal job controlling the draw and giving us plenty of opportunities to possess the ball. Iona is a tough team with a very talented goalie, and its defense came into today holding the opposition to an average of nine goals which is impressive. Overall, I thought we handled the composure of being in a tight game better than we have over the past few weeks, and I'm very proud of the result."
Sr. Attack Rachel Hornick – "After looking at last game's possessions, we knew we had to pick it up when it came to our shot selection. Today, we really hammered that home and stuck to our game plan of just working the defense until we found our shot. We knew their goalie was very talented, so we practiced hard all week shooting for corners and taking that extra second to see her. Cameron Manor did an exceptional job today coming in hot and being a huge threat in the middle of the field. I'm really proud of the team as a whole today."
So. Goalie Maddie Burns – "Our defense came up with some huge stops throughout the game. This was crucial for deterring Iona's offense and forcing low angle, far out shots. Our whole unit was communicating and sliding efficiently, which helped make some of my saves easier to handle."