April 29, 2006

Stats

Poughkeepsie, NY -- The Wagner College women's water polo team is moving on to the Championship game of the MAAC postseason tournament following a 5-2 victory over Villanova earlier today at Marist College. Wagner will take on the winner of the Iona/Marist game scheduled for later this afternoon. With the win the Seahawks set a new school record for victories at 25 and currently sit at 25-13 on the season. As for this game the top seeded Seahawks had to put together a solid second half to down a pesky fourth seeded Wildcats team who were looking to avoid being beaten by Wagner for the fourth time this season.

The Green & White got things cooking early on in the first when senior Courtney Crase (Saratoga, CA/Saratoga) found the back of the net 4:38 into the period making things 1-0. That is how the score would look as play moved to the second. At nearly the same time in the second period, 4:32 to go, freshman Nicole Maichrowicz (Temple City, CA/Temple City) took a feed from sophomore Amber McMichael (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin) in a man-up situation and lit the proverbial lamp to put Wagner up 2-0. Villanova battled back with a goal by Taylor Schrang to cut the deficit in half headed into intermission.

Freshman Nicole Maichrowicz helped Wagner advance to the MAAC title game with two goals and two drawn ejections

Villanova started the third with a bang as Carla Martinez put the yellow ball into the cage to tie the score at two with 4:24 remaining. Wagner would respond as the quarter wound to a close. Maichrowicz would again cash in on a man-up scenario firing one into the back of the net with :40 to go in the period. The Sehawks led 3-2 as play moved to the fourth. In the fourth quarter Wagner began to pull away. Following a Wildcat turnover, Wagner raced to the offensive end where junior Anne Wolkenhauer (Fullerton, CA/Fullerton Union) found Crase for her second goal and 53rd on the season to give the Seahawks some breathing room at 4-2 with 3:32 remaining in the game. Crase also added three drawn ejections on the day. Junior Stacey Travous (New Ulm, MN/Cumberland Valley) sealed the deal with a tally of her own to push the score to 5-2. Travous was also a complete maniac on defense locking up Villanova leading scorer Kim Pare like Alcatraz while recording two steals.

Junior Katie Hauck (Pottsville, PA/Pottsville) was dynamic in net taming eleven Wildcat shots while also adding a steal. Her day included two periods of shutouts. Other defensive standouts included three steals by sophomore Billy Hoelck (San Diego, CA/U. of San Diego HS) and two apiece for Wolkenhauer and Stacey Travous.

Seahawk head coach Pat Beemer was aware of the challenge of beating the same team four times in a year and was pleased with the way the team responded. "Matchups become less and less of an issue because the two teams become familiar, and once you learn the other team's system it becomes more of a defensive battle. Our offense struggled at times today, because Villanova was so familiar with what we wanted to do, "Beemer continued "but our defense stepped up just as much and we were able to hold them to two total goals, which is an effort we can be proud of."

Wagner will take part in the MAAC title game tomorrow at 2pm with the winner moving on to the field of eight in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Wagner will be looking to make a return trip to the tournament after winning the MAAC in 2005. "It's been part of our goal to return to the NCAA tournament and tomorrow is our entire season wrapped up into one game, the girls have responded to challenges all season long, and I expect nothing but that tomorrow against whomever we play," said Beemer.