April 26, 2007

Staten Island, NY --The field for the 2007 MAAC Women's Water Polo Championships has been set and with the two day tournament starting tomorrow the Wagner College Seahawks enter the tourney prepared to fight for the title they last claimed in 2005.

Wagner ended the regular season in a tie for second place with the Iona College Gaels and via a coin toss by MAAC officials have claimed the second seed. They will take on those very same Gaels in the first round at 1pm on Saturday. The other semifinal game pits the top-seeded and defending champion Marist Red Foxes against the fourth seeded Villanova Wildcats at 3pm. The winners meet at 2pm on Sunday while the losers do battle at noon on Sunday.

For the Green & White the Iona Gaels present a familiar oponent as they have battled with the New Rochelle based school twice in the last three weeks splitting the season series in tightly played contests. The Gaels took the first matchup by a count of 11-9 and then Wagner rallied from a 5-1 first period deficit to upend Iona 11-10 last Saturday.

The Seahawks who are riding a five game winning streak into the playoffs stand at 15-14 while Iona enters the fray at 16-12 on the year. Wagner is anchored on the offensive end by outside shooter Billy Hoelck (San Diego, CA/U. of San Diego HS) who is currently seventh in the nation with 84 goals. Meanwhile senior co-captain Stacey Travous (New Ulm, MN/Cumberland Valley) holds down the two meter area having tallied 51 goals which ranks her nationally as well.

Defensively the goal has been inhabited all season long by senior Katie Hauck (Pottsville, PA/Pottsville) who finds herself at sixth in country averaging 10.6 saves a game. Joining her will be senior Corrine Travous (New Ulm, MN/Cumberland Valley) who leads all field players on Wagner with 59 steals. Add to that senior co-captain Natasha Peterson (Whittier, CA/La Habra) who is tops for the Seahawks with 52 drawn ejections.

Wagner will need their best effort to hault the often powerful Iona offense solidified by Amanda Brucia who tallied seven goals in a recent game against the Seahawks and stands with over 70 on the year.

Possible second round oppoents include Villanova who Wagner defeated twice on the year and host Marist who has downed the Seahawks three times thus far. The winner of the tournament will advance onto the field of eight in the NCAA tournament hosted this year by Long Beach State in Los Alamitos, California.