Sept. 9, 2007

Box Score

Staten Island, NY - The Wagner College Women's Soccer team won its first game of the season this afternoon at Wagner Stadium, blanking Siena College (1-2-0, 0-0-0 MAAC) 1-0. With the victory, the Seahawks improved to (1-2-0, 0-0-0 NEC) on the year.

The contest was scoreless until the 35th minute when freshman midfielder Whitney Prindible (Hockessin, DE/St. Marks) took a corner kick for Wagner. The rookie's boot was good enough to find a waiting Diane Gantenhammer (Jr., South Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) in a scrum of green and white jerseys who converted the header, directing the ball past Siena goalkeeper Elizabeth Barna for what would turn out to be the game-winner. It was Gantenhammer's first goal ofthe season and Prindible's first assist of her young collegiate career.

The visiting Saints would later threaten on several occasions but the tenacious Seahawk defense stymied them every time. The stout defensive effort was spearheaded by junior captain Stephanie Burnett (Cocoa Beach, FL/Satellite) and ultimately backed up by a stellar goalkeeping performance from freshman Samantha Schueschner (Brookfield, CT/Brookfield), who finished with eight saves on 14 shots.

Perhaps Siena's best opportunity came right before the half when freshman Tabitha Tice had a clear breakaway chance at a wide-open goal on the left side. Schueschner met her shot at the top of the box however and put out the potential fire by blocking the kick and preserving the shutout.

"We're very, very happy with the win," said Wagner Head Coach Mike Minielli. "We've shown a huge amount of improvement from the first game to right now. I think what we're happiest about is that we won the game with our physical play, with our toughness, and I think that's more important than if we just scored a bunch of pretty goals."

Next up for the Seahawks is a trip to sunny Florida where they'll participate in a tournament hosted by the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. First it's a showdown with Western Michigan University at 5 p.m. this Friday, followed by a Sunday matinee with Coastal Carolina University at 2:30 p.m.