Photos by Kostas Lymperopoulos
Hall of Fame Coach Dom Starsia Spends Time At Wagner Practices
Staten Island, NY – Wagner sophomore goalie
Matt Sefcik (Towaco, NJ / Morristown Beard) recorded a career-high 17 saves and junior attackman
Andrew Streilein (Mt. Laurel, NJ / Lenape) led a balanced offensive effort with two goals and an assist to carry the Seahawks to a thrilling 9-8 victory over Lafayette this afternoon at Hameline Field.
In posting the home-opening win, which comes on the heels of last Saturday's tough 14-13 triple-overtime loss at Manhattan, the Green & White even their season record at 1-1 while the Leopards fall to 0-2.
Junior defenseman
Andrew Park (Kinnelon, NJ / Kinnelon) was a force throughout, recording a game-high four caused turnovers while collecting two groundballs.
The Seahawks overcame a 4-2 deficit by embarking on a 3-0 run over the final 6:37 of the first half in taking a 5-4 lead into the intermission. Sophomore midfielder
Spencer Kaufman (Merrick, NY / Sanford H. Calhoun) got things started with an unassisted blast from 15 yards to make it a 4-3 game at the 6:37.
Less than two minutes later, sophomore midfielder
Connor Davis (Pottstown, PA / Bishop Shanahan) knotted the game at 4-4 with a straight-on goal from in close, off a feed from freshman attackman
Dominic Branda (Ringwood, NJ / Don Bosco Prep) with 4:54 to go in the half. Then, with 2:07 remaining in the half, junior midfielder
Aaron Denesevich (Egg Harbor, NJ / St. Augustine Prep), fired home a 20-yard unassisted dart to give Wagner the lead for good at 5-4.
The second half was a nip-and-tuck affair as the Leopards overcame a 6-4 deficit to forge a 7-7 tie on two consecutive goals by Will McCarthy, the latter coming with 6:28 to play. The Seahawks countered with the go-ahead goal as junior
Joe Lomeli (Clark, NJ / Arthur L. Johnson / NJIT), who tallied a team-high four points in the opener vs. Manhattan (3g, 1a), sailed one in from the right wing off a scramble with 3:44 left.
Junior midfielder
JP Pawela (Montgomery Village, MD / St. John's College) then gave the Seahawks a two-goal cushion at 9-7 with just 2:14 remaining when he found the back of the net off of Branda's second assist of the game.
The Leopards would answer with a Scott McAvoy score with just 11 seconds left to make it a 9-8 game. Lafayette then won the ensuing faceoff and called time with three seconds remaining to set up a last play. But Kevin Lewis' shot was wide left as time expired, setting off a wild Seahawk celebration.
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