Bakersfield, CA – Wagner's water polo team finished their first tournament of the West Coast spring break trip with a 1-3 record at the Roadrunner Invitational.  Opening the weekend with a 13-9 loss to the hosting Roadrunners of CSU Bakersfield, the Seahawks tacked on a thrilling 5-4 overtime victory against Fresno Pacific to end the first day of play.  Matching up against two ranked opponents in day two, Wagner narrowly missed defeating No. 12 Indiana in a 5-4 loss and later fell 16-6 to No. 19 Long Beach State.

Wagner vs. CSU Bakersfield
After tying the game 2-2 in the opening quarter after goals from seniors Becca Hannings (Lansdale, PA / North Penn) and Chelsea Beck (Reading, PA / Wilson), sophomores Stacy McGregor (Sinking Spring, PA / Wilson) and Sidney Hoshko (Coronado, CA / Coronado) both found the back of the net in the second has the hosting Roadrunners knocked in four. 

Down by two entering the second half, the Seahawks allowed three more CSU Bakersfield goals in the third stanza as senior Molly Robinson (Lansdale, PA / North Penn) capitalized on a man-up opportunity to put Wagner within four headed into the final eight minutes.

The four goal deficit proved to be the deciding factor as the fourth quarter saw four more Roadrunner goals and a hat-trick from freshman Jessica Burdge (Stockton, CA / St. Mary's). 

Junior goalkeeper Laura Karbach (Abington, PA / Germantown Academy) recorded a season-high 17 saves.

                                                1^st           2^nd          3^rd           4^th           Final
CSU Bakersfield                 2              4             3             4             13             
Wagner                                 2              2             1             3              9
 
Wagner vs. Fresno Pacific
In second game of first-day play, Wagner came out with vengeance hitting three goals in the first half and holding Fresno Pacific scoreless until the third quarter.  Starting the Seahawks off on the scoring run, senior Lauren French (Colmar, PA / North Penn) sent home the first goal of the game off an assist from Beck.  Later in the opening stanza, Robinson fed a crisp pass to Beck who found the net to put the Seahawks up 2-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Following a shot that was deflected by the Sunbirds' goalkeeper, sophomore Ashton Cline (Carlisle, PA / Cumberland Valley) gained possession of the rebound and hit the only goal of the second quarter to set the score at 3-0 at the break.

Out of the huddle, FPU cut the deficit to one as two Sunbirds sent goals past the Wagner defense.

The fourth quarter opened with another Robinson goal to put the Seahawks up 4-2.  With 2:17 to play in regulation, FPU's Nicolette Haley cut the Seahawk lead to one as she netted a wicked shot from the center.  With 33 seconds remaining on the clock, Jaimie Lugo put one past the defense to force the game into overtime.

After a scoreless first overtime period and fresh three minutes on the clock, freshman Rachel Burns (Greenlane, Auckland, New Zealand / Diocesan School for Girls) drew an exclusion on the Sunbird counter-attack to put Wagner in a man-up situation.  Senior co-captains Beck and French teamed up as Beck sent an open pass to French in the center who nailed the game winning goal into the top corner of the net.

With the 5-4 win, Karbach recorded 15 blocks.

                                                1^st           2^nd          3^rd           4^th           OT1        OT2        Final
Wagner                                  2             1            0              1              0              1              5
Fresno Pacific                      0              0            2              2              0              0              4

Wagner vs. Indiana
Playing a stellar defensive game against No. 12 Indiana, Wagner narrowly missed defeating the Hoosiers in their opening game of day-two of the Roadrunner Invitational.

After an exciting scoreless opening stanza, the Hoosiers entered the second quarter on a scoring run hitting the net four times in less than three minutes.  The Seahawks quickly regained composure and were able to send three of their own into the Indiana net while allowing one Hoosier goal in the third quarter.

Following an exclusion drawn by French, Beck scored the first Seahawk goal of the game on a man-up opportunity off an assist from Robinson.  Burns followed with another drawn exclusion as Robinson found Hannings open in front the net to put Wagner within two.  Nearing the end of the third quarter, Beck sent her second goal of the game behind the Indiana defense and narrowed the Hoosier lead to one. 

The Hoosiers then regained their two-goal lead off a goal from freshman Colleen McNaught to set the score at 5-3 heading into the final stanza.

Holding Indiana scoreless in the final eight minutes, French drew another exclusion and immediately kicked the ball out to Beck who scored from the perimeter to put the Seahawks back within one.  However, Wagner was unable to find the net a fifth time to force overtime giving the Hoosiers the 5-4 victory.

Karbach recorded 10 blocks.
 
                                                1^st           2^nd          3^rd           4^th           Final
Indiana                                 0              4              1              0              5
Wagner                                  0             0             3              1              4

Wagner vs. Long Beach State
In the final match of the weekend, Wagner faced off against a tough No. 19 Long Beach State.  The 49ers jumped out to a huge 10-3 lead in first half as Justine Morgan and Chelsea Parks both scored two goals in the first quarter, and Melissa Matheson had three in the opening half. 

In the opening eight minutes, Wagner was only able to find the net once with a Hannings goal scored on a man-up opportunity drawn by Burns. 

The second period saw two goals from Beck off of assists from Leslie Poole (Downey, CA / Warren) and Robinson's second of the game.

The third quarter saw four more 49er goals as the Seahawks remained scoreless until the buzzer.  With only seconds remaining on the clock, freshman Madeleine Brown (Sacramento, CA / Rio Americano) sent a clean pass to Burdge who was treading at half-pool.  Burdge sent a wicked shot across the remaining yardage and hit the back of the net as the third period buzzer sounded.

As the final eight minutes commenced, the 49ers hit two more goals as Beck sent two more of her own into the net to set the final score at 16-6 in favor of Long Beach State.

                                                1^st           2^nd          3^rd           4^th           Final
Long Beach State                6            4             4              2              16
Wagner                                 1             2             1              2              6

The Seahawks continue their 10-day trip in California on Wednesday, March 14 at 6:00 PM (EST) when they face off against Cal State San Bernardino on a pit-stop on their way to the Aztec Invitational in San Diego.