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Santa Barbara, CA – The Wagner women's water polo team split the final day at the UCSB Winter Invite as the Seahawks defeated #9 UC San Diego and fell to #18 UC Santa Barbara.
#23 Wagner (9) vs. #9 UC San Diego (8)
The Tritons held an early advantage after the opening eight minutes, taking a 3-1 lead into the second quarter. Fifth year
Malia Josephson scored the lone goal for Wagner in the quarter while critical saves from senior goalkeeper
Kristina Bell kept the Seahawks within striking distance in the for the remainder of the contest.
Wagner cut the UC San Diego lead in half when senior
Sofia Diaz Alvarez found the back of the net early in the second frame. Two consecutive goals from the Tritons extended its lead to 5-2 late in the second before the Seahawks countered with two goals of their own from Josephson and sophomore
Mar Navarro. The Tritons found the back of the net one more time in the second to take a 6-4 lead into the intermission.
The second half began with junior
Skye Nankervis winning her first sprint of the contest before the Tritons converted on a 5-meter penalty to extend its lead to 7-4. The Seahawks closed the third quarter on a 2-0 run in part due to goals from Josephson and junior
Abbey Simshauser, Josephson's goal was set up off of a crucial save from
Kristina Bell.
The final stanza began with UC San Diego holding a 7-6 lead and Nankervis winning her second sprint in succession. The Tritons final goal of the contest gave the #9 ranked team in the country an 8-6 advantage over the Green & White. Simshauser converted a power play opportunity to cut the lead in half before Simshauser found Diaz Alvarez to get Wagner level for the first time in the contest with 52 seconds remaining. Wagner took its first lead of the contest after Bell made a save and passed the ball across the pool to Navarro who fired the ball into the back of the net as time expired to claim a 9-8 victory for Wagner.
Malia Josephson paced the Wagner attack with three goals on eight shots to go along with two blocks, two exclusions drawn and one field block.
Abbey Simshauser tallied two goals on nine shots while drawing five exclusions as goalkeeper
Kristina Bell stopped 13 shots in the victory.
This victory for Wagner over #9 UC San Diego is the highest ranked win in program history after the Seahawks defeated #10 Long Beach State on February 14, 2015, 5-3.
#23 Wagner (14) vs. #18 UC Santa Barbara (16)
The fourth and final game for Wagner against UC Santa Barbara was a back-and-forth affair from the opening sprint. The hosts of the tournament took an early lead in the opening stanza on a goal from Leigh Lyter. He Seahawks countered with three goals of its own from
Mar Navarro,
Malia Josephson and
Andrea Arias. Navarro and
Sofia Diaz Alvarez tacked on two more in the quarter to maintain a 5-3 cushion after the opening eight minutes.
The second quarter was the highest scoring quarter of the contest as the two sides combined to find the back of the net nine times with the Gauchos outscoring the Seahawks 5-4. Arias and Sofia Diaz scored their second goals of the contest while Navarro completed her hat trick. With the score tied 8-8 in the final seconds of the quarter,
Abbey Simshauser fired a shot past the Gauchos goalkeeper Madison Button to give the Green & White 9-8 lead heading into halftime. Netminder
Kristina Bell stopped five shots in the opening 16 minutes of the contest.
An early goal from
Skye Nankervis opened the second half scoring for Wagner before Claire Kelly, Leigh Lyter and Caitlyn Snyder scored for the Gauchos to give the hosts an 11-10 lead. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Preseason Co-Player of the Year
Sofia Diaz Alvarez lived up to the honor with a quick response to the 4-0 run from UC Santa Barbara to tie the game at 11. Annie Kuester scored her first of the contest to give the Gauchos a 12-11 before Diaz Alvarez responded yet again to keep the game level at 12 heading into the final stanza.
Andrea Arias gave the Seahawks a 13-12 lead early in the fourth before Sarah Owens scored her second of the contest to tie the game.
Abbey Simshauser gave Wagner its final lead of the contest with her second goal of the contest. The hosts closed the contest on a 3-1 run to preserve a 16-15 victory over the Greeen & White.
Sofia Diaz Alvarez and
Mar Navarro both tallied four goals in the contest while Alvarez dished out three assists.
Malia Josephson tallied six assists while
Skye Nankervis won three sprints.
Kristina Bell stopped 11 shots in the losing effort.
The Seahawks will be back in action next weekend for the Bucknell Invitational to take on Mercyhurst and Gannon on Saturday, January 29 before closing out the tournament against #24 Bucknell and the Virginia Military Institute.
