April 27, 2006

Post Season Game Notes

Staten Island, NY - Following a 9-1 conference record and their third straight MAAC regular season championship the Wagner College women's water polo team (24-13) enters this weekend's MAAC postseason tournament as the number one seed. The Seahawks will do battle with the fourth seeded Villanova Wildcats (6-14), a team they have already beaten three times on the season.

Wagner enters the postseason with eyes on repeating at MAAC tournament champions after last year's victory earned them the conference's first ever automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The road will not be easy however as the Seahawks will have to muster a fourth consecutive win over the Wildcats this season. A victory there would propel them into a game against either Marist or Iona.

Sophomore Billy Hoelck brings her team leading 84 goals into the post season in hopes of bringing Wagner another championship

Wagner is 2-0 this season against Marist with their last meeting coming down to the wire in a 9-8 sudden death victory in double overtime. Meanwhile the Gaels of Iona College have played the Green & White tight this season losing earlier this year by a goal and then edging Wagner by one last weekend.

The Seahawks will take on Villanova at 2pm this Saturday at the McCann Natatorium on the campus of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. That game will be followed at 4pm with Marist taking on Iona. The losers of each game will play Sunday at noon, while the winners will meet for all the marbles at 2pm.

Here is a closer look at the four teams in the MAAC Tournament:

The Wagner Seahawks (24-13, 9-1), currently the first place team in the MAAC has emerged as one of the nations top offensive powerhouses in 2006. Averaging just under 11 goals a contest the Green & White has been ranked consistently in the top five in team offense for the country. A large part of the Wagner offense has come from the proverbial two-headed monster of Stacey Travous (New Ulm, MN/Cumberland Valley) and Billy Hoelck (San Diego, CA/U. of San Diego HS). Like Charles Barkley and Dan Majerle of the old Phoenix Suns, Travous (70 goals) takes care of business around the goal while Hoelck (84 goals) makes her living from downtown. Taking after her head coach, Pat Beemer, a former goalie at UCSD, Wagner boasts a solid goalie in junior Katie Hauck (Pottsville, PA/Pottsville) Hauck has started 29 games for Wagner and has impounded 183 shots by opponents. The Seahawks will often institute a man-to-man press to force turnovers and offensively institute a double post that can make things difficult for the opposition.

Junior goaltender Katie Hauck will hope to keep Villanova at bay in Wagner's opening game on Saturday

The Villanova Wildcats (6-14, 5-5), once considered a team in transition, are on the rise. The team is under new management being guided by first year man Damon Newman. Newman came to the team after a 2-year stint as assistant coach at Iona College. The Wildcats have a dangerous ball-side drive offense that often causes mismatch problems with opponents. Senior driver Kim Pare (Grand Rapids, MI/Grand Rapids) does yeoman work at her position often finding ways to slip past defenders. Along with the outside shooting threat of Karla Martinez (Caugus, Puerto Rico/Notre Dame), the Wildcats are versatile both inside and on the perimeter.

The Iona Gaels (17-11, 6-4) are led by the coach with the longest tenure in the MAAC, Brian Kelly now in his 11th season. Kelly is no stranger to success most recently winning the conference tournament against Wagner College in 2004. This season, a rookie and a veteran lead the offense of the Gaels. Freshman Amanda Brucia (Woodland Hills, CA/Calabasas) pulls duty at the 2-meter position while senior Megan Hanson (Long Beach, CA/Fullerton JC) both defends and sets 2-meters. This scoring twosome has accounted for over half of the total goals for the Gaels. Another freshman, Lauren Peterson (Flossmore, IL/Flossmore) has over 30 tallies on the season. Teams will look to counter Iona's isolation offense with solid defensive switching and slough tactics.

The Marist Red Foxes (21-12, 8-2), led by second year head coach Andrew Silva, are having a marquis season. The team continues to build on a school record amount of wins as they head into the MAAC Championship Tournament. Marist's scoring output is spearheaded by the freshmen duo of Kari Weston (Chino Hills, CA/Ayala) and Katelin McCahill (East Grand Rapids, MI/East Grand Rapids). The tandem have accounted for nearly half of the goals recorded for the Red Foxes. Teams will look key on these players to have a chance at victory.