March 17, 2007

Stats

Ann Arbor, MI -- The Wagner College women's water polo team rebounded from a six goal loss to the University of Michigan earlier today by taking California Baptist to four overtimes in a heartbreaking yet very exciting loss 13-12. The loss drops Wagner under the .500 mark for the first time this season as they fall to 7-8.

The Seahawks dug themselves a hole in the first period falling down 3-0 before getting their offense going in the second period. Wagner was down 4-0 in the second when they ripped off three straight goals, the first by Billy Hoelck (San Diego, CA/U. of San Diego HS) and the last two by Stacey Travous (New Ulm, MN/Cumberland Valley) to pull into halftime down just 4-3.

Wagner picked up where they left off in the first half by scoring the first goal of the second half as sophomore Nicole Maichrowicz (Temple City, CA/Temple City) tallied her first score of the day to even the contest at 4. Again the Green & White would falter on the defensive end as the Lancers put on a three goal run of their own to lead 7-4 with 1:21 remaining in the third. Hoelck closed out the third period scoring with a tally to keep Wagner within shouting distance at 7-5 headed to the fourth.

The resilient Seahawks again fought back as Alexandra Tomlinson (Telford, PA/Souderton) answered the call to cut the deficit to 7-6. Cal Baptist went up 8-6 but Wagner answered with two straight as Maichrowicz scored on a man up situation then Tomlinson took a feed from Amber McMichael (Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) and put home her second goal of the day to tie the score at 8 with 2:27 to go.

The Lancers appeared to strike the final blow when they scored with 42 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However in the waning seconds, Camille Karimzad (Walnut Creek, CA/Campolindo) dished the ball to Natasha Peterson (Whittier, CA/La Habra) who put it by the goalie with just five seconds on the clock.

This epic battle then headed to over time which consisted of two three minute periods. The teams traded goals in the first overtime with Stacey Travous scoring the lone goal for Wagner. Then in the second overtime the teams traded two goals apiece with Maichrowicz and Hoelck scoring for Wagner. The Seahawks appeared to have the game won after Hoelck's goal but a double kick out on Wagner led to a Lancer goal with just 22 seconds remaining.

Moving on, the game headed to sudden death with neither team scoring in the third overtime period. Finally in the late stages of the fourth overtime period the Lancers tallied a score to win in sudden death by a count of 13-12. Senior Katie Hauck (Pottsville, PA/Pottsville) played all of regulation and the overtimes in net halting 17 Cal Baptist shots. This is the second time in the last two years Wagner fell to Cal Baptist in overtime.

The road does not get easier for Wagner as they are back in the pool for a game against #11 Loyola Marymount at 8:00 am. Wagner last took on the Lions at the 2005 NCAA tournament which was also held at the Canham Natatorium on the campus of the University of Michigan. The Seahawks close out their stay in Ann Arbor with a late morning game against top 20 ranked Indiana University.