Staten Island, NY – The Wagner College water polo team split its two home matches today with a nail-biting 10-9 loss to the Gaels of Iona followed by an 11-5 victory over the Saints of Siena.  Prior to the start of the second game, Wagner honored its five seniors, Chelsea Beck (Reading, PA / Wilson), Lauren French (Colmar, PA / North Penn), Becca Hannings (Lansdale, PA / North Penn), Lauren Lovallo (Old Greeniwch, CT / Greenwich) and Molly Robinson (Lansdale, PA / North Penn) who have dedicated the past four years to the water polo program. 

Iona 10, Wagner 9

Looking to remain undefeated in conference play, the Seahawks matched up with the defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champions from Iona in a back and forth battle in the day's opening match. 

The Gaels started off with a scoring frenzy as they led 2-0 halfway through the first quarter.  The Seahawks put their first point on the board with a goal from French, followed shortly by two more Iona goals as the Gaels led 4-1 at the end of the first eight minutes. 

Allowing two more quick Iona goals in the first minute of second period play to fall behind 6-1, Wagner answered back with another man-up French goal.  Hannings continued to narrow the Iona lead as the senior attack found the back of net a minute later to make it a 6-3 game.

With 4:03 left in the half, sophomore Sidney Hoshko (Coronado, CA / Coronado) put the Seahawks within two as she sent a quick shot past Iona's goalkeeper Marisa Gaynor.  With the score set at 6-4 in favor of the Gaels, the remaining four minutes of the second quarter stayed scoreless.

After the break, Iona's Caitlin McGregor sunk a stellar goal less than a minute into the third period.  Answering back a minute later, French hit her third goal of the game to keep the Green & White within two goals at 7-5.

Following an Iona exclusion, Hannings capitalized on the man-up situation to narrow the Seahawk deficit to one goal at 7-6.  With 3:17 left in the third, Rachel Burns (Greenelane, Auckland, New Zealand / Diocesan School for Girls) tied the game at 7-7 as the rookie attack sent a wicked shot past the Iona defense.  Ten seconds later, Iona's Amy Olsen hit her third goal of match to put the Gaels back on top by one goal.

With the score set at 8-7 and a fresh eight minutes on the clock, Burns knocked in her second game-tying goal of the day.  Following the exclusion of Iona's McGregor, Beck found the back of the net in the man-up situation to put Wagner in the lead for the first time at 9-8.

Iona's Mackenzie Mone forged the game's third tie by sinking a goal with 3:30 remaining, knotting the score at 9-9.  That's the way the score remained until the 1:22 mark when Iona's Cecilia Leonard converted what would prove to be the game-winning goal as the Gaels escaped with a hard-fought 10-9 victory.

Wagner 11, Siena 5

Celebrating the final home match for Wagner's five seniors, the Seahawks dominated their second game of the day as all four senior field players scored for the Green & White.

Starting the game with a quick 2-0 lead following goals from Robinson and Michelle Greenough (Davis, CA / Davis), Wagner held the Saints scoreless throughout the fhe first half in building a 6-0 lead at intermission.

Wagner then netted four goals in the second quarter, all made by the four senior field players.  Robinson started the scoring trend as she hit her second of the game, followed shortly by goals from Hannings, French and Beck. 

With the Seahawks out in front 6-0 at the beginning of the third quarter, Hoshko hit back-to-back goals followed by another from Ashton Cline (Carlisle, PA / Cumberland Valley) to increase the lead to 9-0.

With 2:46 remaining in third period play, Siena's Traci Robinson put the Saints on the board for the first time as she lobbed a shot over the head of junior goalkeeper Laura Karbach (Abington, PA / Germantown Academy). 

Hoshko answered back with her third goal of the game with a fancy behind-the-back shot, putting the Seahawks up by nine at 10-1. 

Siena tried to claw back by scoring four fourth-quarter goals before Beck knocked in the 11^th goal for the Seahawks, securing Wagner's 11-5 victory.

The Seahawks (16-15, 6-1 MAAC) are back in action on Saturday, April 7 when they face St. Francis (N.Y.) at 1:00 PM and Villanova at 5:30 PM.