Photo Credit - EMI Photography 

Score Sheet

Santa Barbara, CA – The #20 Wagner women's water polo team opened their 2016 season on a positive note as they defeated Azusa Pacific 12-6 on the opening day of the UCSB Winter Invite.

The Seahawks will square-off with Cal Baptist at 8:40 pm (EST) tonight in their second contest of the UCSB Winter Invite hosted by UC Santa Barbara.

The Seahawks opened the game with two quick strike goals from sophomore Kimberly Watson (Pointe-Claire, Quebec / John Rennie) and senior co-captain Lily Doerfler (Annapolis, MD/ Broadneck) to give the Seahawks a 2-0 advantage less than two minutes into the contest. 

The fast pace scoring for Seahawks would continue as they would total six goals in the opening period. Freshman Abby Irving (Brentwood Bay, B.C./ Canadian Sport School / Stelly's) recorded her first collegiate goal as the lefty rattled the cage at the 4:58 mark in the first. Watson added a second tally of the quarter while reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Offensive Player of the Year Jess Lundgren (Queensland, Australia/ Mountain Creek) found the back of the net twice in the final 1:15 of the period.

Azusa Pacific registered two goals in the opening stanza as Maryann Slama and Alba Espinar each tallied to bring the score to 6-2 after the first quarter.

Play began to slow in the second period as the Seahawks would outscore Azusa Pacific 3-1. Left handed specialist and California native Megan Rodriguez (Danville, CA/ San Ramon Valley) riffled in two goals during the second quarter. Doerfler struck the back of the net once, for her second of the contest, as the Seahawks entered halftime holding a 9-3 lead.

The Green & White and Azusa Pacific would play to a 3-3 tie in the second half to bring the final tally to 12-6 in favor of the Seahawks. Doerfler scored twice more in the second half to bring her goal total to four on the day while Lundgren rattled the cage once more for a hat trick.

The three goals on the day for Lundgren move her into a tie for second all-time on the Seahawk goals list with Jessica Burdge at 285 career scores.

The win marks head coach Chris Radmonovich's 114th career victory which places him three away from holding the program record.

Wagner Goals
Lily Doerfler 4
Jess Lundgren 3
Megan Rodriguez 2
Kimberly Watson 2
Abby Irving 1

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