(Pictured above from left to right: Jessica Burdge, Rachel Burns, Michelle Greenough)

Staten Island, NY – The #19 Wagner (23-8, 10-2 MAAC) women's water polo team picked up two victories on Senior Day as the Seahawks defeated Iona (21-14, 7-5 MAAC) 19-5 and St. Francis Brooklyn (5-24, 1-11 MAAC) 22-4 to cap off the regular season with 23 victories while compiling a 10-2 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference record.

Iona (Score Sheet)

The Seahawks offense was hitting on all phases today from the opening swim-off as they netted four goals in the opening stanza. Senior co-captain Jessica Burdge (Stockton, CA/ St. Mary's) got the ball rolling as she delivered on a beautiful strike off an assist from junior attacker Megan Rodriguez (Danville, CA/ San Ramon Valley). Iona responded as Paige Neary found the back of the net to draw the game at one a peice with just over three minutes of action in the book. Iona looked to take the lead off a break out attempt from Dana Andrea but a huge block from sophomore goalie Emily Riddle (Alberta, Edmonton/ Dr. E.P. Scarlett) stifled the Gaels scoring opportunity.

The Seahawks erupted for seven unanswered goals which was kick started by a Kimberly Watson (Pointe-Claire, Quebec/ John Rennie) score which was setup from a lead pass by senior co-captain Rachel Burns (Auckland, New Zealand/ Diocesan). Junior do it all center Jess Lundgren (Queensland, Australia/ Mountain Creek) tallied two scores at the end of the first to bring the score to 4-1.
The run continued into the second quarter as junior center Lily Doerfler (Annapolis, MD/ Broadneck) and freshman attacker Elise Begg (Newbury Park, CA. Newbury) entered the scoring column as Brudge and Rodriguez also found the back of the net to increase the Seahawks led to 8-1 with 2:32 remaining in the first half. Iona added their second goal of the contest but Rodriguez responded quickly as the score read 9-2 in favor of Wagner at halftime.

The second half didn't cool the Green & White's attack as the squad tallied seven goals in the third period alone. Watson led the charge in the quarter as she rattled the cage for three scores as Lundgren added two more as well.  Rodriguez struck the back of the net and Burdge scored on a man-up opportunity to give the Seahawks the 16-3 advantage with only the fourth and final period remaining.

The Green & White would outscore the Gaels 3-2 in the final quarter as Rodriguez and Watson scored once more while senior Michelle Greenough (Davis, CA/ Davis) found the back of the net for her first score of the contest to bring the final tally to 19-5 in Wagner's favor.

Wagner - Iona Highlights



Seahawk Goals

Kimberly Watson 5
Jess Lundgren 4
Megan Rodriguez 4
Jessica Burdge 3
Elise Begg 1
Lily Doerfler 1
Michelle Greenough 1
 
St. Francis Brooklyn (Score Sheet)

The Green & White's senior game was a success as the team amassed 22 goals and each senior scored in the victory to strech their program best wins for a class to 94.

The Seahawks offense was in attack mode from the start as the team rallied for five unanswered goals to begin the game led by two breakout goals from Doerfler off assists from Rodriguez. Lundgren also found the back of the net in the run off a nice setup from Rodriguez while Burdge ripped in two scores as well. St. Francis Brooklyn would end the opening quarter with two goals of their own to bring the score to 5-2.

The Green & White blanked the Terriers in the second period as they outscored St. Francis Brooklyn 8-0. Rodriguez opened the period with three straight goals as two came from long passes from Lundgren and Riddle. Riddle then found a streaking Lundgren moments later to tally the team's fourth goal of the quarter. Burdge found the back of the net once more as freshman Lacey Anderson (Thousand Oaks, CA/ Westlake), Greenough, and Sophomore Gabryel Oloapu (Auckland, New Zealand/ Diocesan) each entered the scoring column for the first time in the game to give Wagner a commanding 13-2 lead at the half.

The run didn't end as the Seahawks stretched it to twelve unanswered tallies as Lundgren, Burdge, Doerfler and Oloapu each netted scores. St. Francis Brooklyn's Stephanie Zwicker responded with two goals of her own towards the end of the third quarter to bring the score to 17-4.

Lundgren and Doerfler ripped the ball past the goalie as each created space in front of the net to clear themselves up for the shots. Burns scooped up a shot off the post and smoothly tossed it into the back of the net to round out the trio of seniors scoring in the game.  Sophomore Alexey Chandler (Sacramento, CA/ St. Francis) and Anderson found the back of the net for the Green & White to bring the final score to 22-4.

Freshman Anna Ward (Grayslake, IL/ Mundelein) entered the game in the second quarter and recorded a career high eight saves in the contest.

Wagner - St. Francis Brooklyn Highlights



Seahawk Goals

Jessica Burdge 4
Lily Doerfler 4
Jess Lundgren 4
Megan Rodriguez 3
Lacey Anderson 2
Gabryel Oloapu 2
Rachel Burns 1
Alexey Chandler 1
Michelle Greenough 1
 
The Seahawks clinched the number two seed in the MAAC Championships as they will square-off with the three seed Iona on Saturday, April 25 at 12:00 p.m. on the campus of Marist College located in Poughkeepsie, NY.

Marist will be the one seed in the tournament and compete against the fourth seeded Villanova Wildcats at 2:00 p.m.

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