Pictured Above: Junior attackman Billy Battaglia, who ranks No. 4 in the NEC with a 1.29 assists per game average (photo by Jim O'Connor)

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NEC Press Release

Newark, NJ – The Wagner College Seahawks will look for their third straight victory and are hoping to even their season record at 4-4 when they meet the NJIT Highlanders in Brick City today at Noon.
 
The Green & White, who are combing gritty defense with an opportunistic offensive attack, are coming off of last Saturday's exciting 6-5 overtime victory over Mount St. Mary's in the Northeast Conference (NEC) opener for both teams.
 
 The Seahawks, who are 3-4 on the season, won it when junior midfielder Paul DeVita (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) blasted home the game-winning goal from 10 yards out after receiving a pin-point pass from freshman midfielder Billy Orme (Great Falls, VA/Langley) with 2:29 left in overtime.
 
This win came on the heels of an impressive 12-4 victory over VMI on March 17. The 2-0 week marked the first- two-game winning streak in the 15-year history of the program and, against NJIT, Wagner will gun for its first-ever three-game winning streak.
 
The Highlanders are in their first season competing at the Division I level and enter the game with a record of 0-7. Wagner and NJIT have played three common opponents this season in UMass Lowell, Monmouth and Rutgers, with the Seahawks going 1-2 in these matchups and the Highlanders 0-3.
 
The Seahawks defeated UMass Lowell 14-6 while dropping contests to Monmouth (7-2) and Rutgers (13-10). The Highlanders dropped a 9-7 decision to UMass Lowell and 6-3 decision to Monmouth and were outscored by Rutgers, 21-2. In its most recent game, NJIT fell to Richmond by a 21-3 count on March 23.
 
Offensively, Wagner is led by the reigning two-time NEC Rookie of the Week Andrew Streilein (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape), a multifaceted attackman who recorded a hat trick while sinking all three shots that he attempted in the win over VMI last Tuesday. He then supplied two goals and an assist in the thrilling OT win over Mount St. Mary's on Saturday.
 
For the season, the 5-11, 170-pound Streilein leads the Seahawks in goals (13) and points (20), while ranking second in assists (7), in addition to collecting eight ground balls and forcing three caused turnovers. DeVita (11G, 3A) and junior attackman Billy Battaglia (Madison, NJ/Madison) (5G, team-high 9A) are tied for second on the team with 14 points apiece.

Redshirt-sophomore attackman Patrick McMenamin (Longport, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) is the Seahawks' fourth-leading scorer with 13 points (10G, 3A), while freshman midfielder, Billy Orme (Great Falls, VA/Langley) rounds out the Seahawk top five in scoring with 12 points (8G, 4A).
 
Junior defenseman Daniel Valencia (Gaithersburg, MD/Gaithersburg) leads the team with 11 caused turnovers while redshirt-sophomore William McMenamin (Longport, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) is Wagner's No. 1 faceoff man, having won 33-of-68 (.485) battles in the circle, while also topping the team with 16 ground balls.

In goal, junior Anthony Peruso (Warwick, NY / John S. Burke Catholic) ranks No. 10 nationally with a 7.78 goals against average.
 
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