Iona Picked to Win MAAC Water Polo League in 2009
MAAC Sports
Edison, NJ ? The Iona College Gaels were selected as the team to beat during the 2009 MAAC Water Polo season, as determined by the conference’s six head coaches in their annual preseason poll.
Iona, who finished as runners-up at the 2008 MAAC Championship, earned 34 points in the poll to lead all teams. Iona went 7-3 in the league last year and 22-12 overall. The 22 wins were the most in program history. Head Coach Brian Kelly, entering his 14th year at the helm of his alma mater, will have the Gaels aiming for their 10th season in a row with a winning record.
Iona College senior Lauren Peterson, the 2008 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year. Peterson finished fifth in the nation last season with an average of 2.8 goals per game. She set Iona program records in goals scored (99), assists (65), and points scored (164). She was named Offensive Player of the Week twice last season and was a member of the MAAC All-Academic Team.
Marist finished second in the poll with 32 points. Wagner was third with 22 points, followed by Siena with 15. St. Francis (NY) received 14 points and Villanova was sixth with nine points.
Peterson was also voted to the Preseason All-MAAC team along with teammate Amanda Brucia, Marist’s Katelin McCahill and Samantha Swartz, Siena’s Lauren Garrigan, and St. Francis’ Hadar Berger and Andrea Dolnay. Iona’s Kathleen Link was voted as the goalkeeper.