April 25, 2008

Poughkeepsie, NY - Its playoff time for the Wagner water polo team who will take on the second seeded Iona Gaels in game one of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament at 1:00 PM on Saturday, April 26. The Seahawks are 1-1 against the Gaels this season.

In the first meeting between the two, the Seahawks let senior Billy Hoelck (San Diego, CA/University of San Diego HS) do most of the talking with her season high seven goals. She helped the Green & White take an early 3-2 lead in the first quarter. Wagner never fell behind the Gaels and ended the game on the better end of a 12-11 score.

The second game with Iona did not fair as well as the first for Wagner. After beating the Siena Saints earlier in the day to lock up third seed in the MAAC Tournament, Wagner had their sights on a season sweep of the Gaels. It was all Iona in the first quarter and they took a 7-3 lead into the second half. The closest Wagner came to the Gaels was when they trailed by only two goals in the third after junior Alexandra Tomlinson (Telford, PA/Souderton) netted two off the bat. But Iona matched her output and then some, netting four uncontested goals and going on to take the game 14-9.

This game will be a rematch of last year's first round action where Wagner went on to top the Gales 13-9. From there, the Green & White battled conference rival Marist College in a nail biting Championship game where the Seahawks bested the Red Foxes' advances and defeated Marist 8-7. With the win, Wagner punched their ticket to their second appearance at the NCAA Tournament.

"We faced them last year in a similar situation," said head coach Patrick Beemer. "In the match-up tomorrow, I expect nothing short of a spectacular game between two foes wanting the right to play for an NCAA bid."

Finding their way to victory this time around will mean the Seahawks will have to focus their stellar defense on slowing down the talent of Lauren Peterson. The junior represents just under 25% of the Gael's goals this season and is second to only Hoelck in the MAAC in total goals scored. As if holding the second best offensive scorer in the conference at bay was not enough of a defensive obstacle, the Seahawks will have to suppress the output of junior Amanda Brucia who ranks third in the MAAC with 84 goals this year. But the two juniors should not be too much for the Seahawks to handle for Wagner is tops in the league in field blocks with 53 on the year. Hoelck alone has more than Iona and Villanova's team totals with 18 of her own.

"Mental preparation is key for this squad," remarked Beemer. "We rely on our bench heavily, which is largely comprised of freshmen who haven't been here before. We've focused this week on becoming mentally prepared to win a championship."

The Green & White have never missed out on bonus MAAC play and enter their sixth MAAC Tournament in program history. The Seahawks have bolstered an 8-2 overall record in the MAAC Tournament and are 115-89 overall against MAAC competition.

All games of the MAAC Tournament will be held on the campus of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. For more information on the MAAC Tournament, visit the MAAC website here.