San Diego, CA – The Wagner women's water polo team will take its 13-game winning streak to the Aztec Invitational at San Diego State University this weekend.
Last Time Out
The Seahawks defeated three ranked opponents this past weekend at the Harvard Invitational. In two games on Saturday, February 5, Wagner defeated RV (Received Votes) California State East Bay, 14-5 before defeating #14 Indiana, 7-6. The Green & White wrapped up the weekend with a 9-7 victory over #23 Brown on Sunday, February 6 to extend the team's winning streak to 13.
The Streak Continues
The Seahawks have defeated six ranked opponents and have outscored their opponents 22-71 with an average of 17 goals per contest. The 13-game streak is the third longest in program history, the team is one win away from tying the 14-game winning streak that took place in 2016. The 2017 and 2018 Seahawks each won 17 consecutive contests.
Since the streak began on January 29, the Green & White have claimed four Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) weekly honors as senior
Kristina Bell has claimed two Defensive Player of the Week awards, sophomore
Andrea Arias claimed one Offensive Player of the Week honor and freshman
Carlota Alonso claimed her second Rookie of the Week honor. Wagner has also claimed two conference victories as they defeated La Salle and St. Francis Brooklyn at the Courtney Fisher Invitational on February 26.
When the streak began, Wagner was #17 in the College Water Polo Association (CWPA) national poll, the Seahawks have been as high as #14 this season. After checking in at #15 in the week six poll, Wagner moved back up to #14 in the week seven poll, released by the CWPA on Wednesday afternoon.
Up To Date Stats
Through the winning streak,
Kristina Bell has stopped 76 out of 138 shots faced and has recorded five steals. Senior Sofia Diaz has scored 30 goals, dished out 16 assists and tallied 22 steals while
Carlota Alonso has tallied 17 steals, 11 assists, and 19 steals. Junior
Skye Nankervis has scored 16 goals, dished out 21 assists, tallied 28 steals and has won a team-leading 43 sprints, classmate
Abbey Simshauser has scored 31 goals, dished out 17 assists and has accumulated 20 steals. Sophomore
Mar Navarro has scored 22 goals and dished out 24 assists while classmate
Andrea Arias has scored a team-leading 43 goals, dished out 15 assists and tallied 15 steals. Fifth-year senior
Malia Josephson has scored 21 times and has dished out a team-leading 34 assists.
Through 17-games played this season,
Andrea Arias leads Wagner with 48 goals while
Malia Josephson leads the team with 44 assists and 72 points.
Abbey Simshauser has drawn 29 exclusions and classmate
Skye Nankervis has tallied 37 steals.
About Saint Francis
The Seahawks have played and defeated the Red Flash three times in program history. The last time these two teams played came in February 2020 and Wagner took a 19-6 victory. In 2019, these two teams squared off twice and Wagner outscored Saint Francis 46-6.
The Red Flash enter the Aztec Invitational with an 8-12 record and a 2-6 record in conference play. In San Diego this weekend Saint Francis will battle #14 Wagner, #20 San Diego State, #13 UC San Diego and Austin College.
About #20 San Diego State
The hosts enter the Aztec Invitational with a 4-8 record are currently riding a three-game winning streak. The Aztecs made it to the Golden Coast Conference title game last season and fell to the top seeded Fresno State, 14-10. San Diego State came into the 2022 season at #15 in the CWPA preseason poll.
About #13 UC San Diego
The Seahawks and Tritons met on January 22 at the UC Santa Barbara Invitational. On that day, Wagner claimed a 9-8 victory over the then #9 Tritons, 9-8. The Seahawks overcame an 8-6 fourth quarter deficit when
Abbey Simshauser tallied a power play goal before she set up
Sofia Diaz Alvarez to tie the game with 52 seconds to play. Wagner took its first lead of the contest after
Kristina Bell made a save a passed the ball across the pool to
Mar Navarro, who fired the ball into the back of the net as time expired. Since the contest on January 22, the Seahawks are sporting a 13-1 record and the Tritons are sporting an 11-7 record and a 12-7 record overall. UC San Diego is also riding a four-game winning streak and will take on #14 Wagner, Saint Francis, and Bucknell.
About Austin College
The Kangaroos enter the Aztec Invitational as the #5 ranked team in the Division III CWPA week seven poll as they are sporting an 2-2 record. Last season, they claimed a CWPA conference title with a 6-2 record with their only two losses coming against Division I competition.
This weekend at the Aztec Invitational the Kangaroos will battle Saint Francis, #14 Wagner, #20 San Diego State, and Bucknell.
What's Next
Following the Aztec Invitational, the Seahawks will continue the MAAC portion of the 2022 schedule as they will take on head to Lexington, VA on the campus of the Virginia Military Institute to take on Villanova on Saturday, March 19, before battling VMI on Sunday, March 20.
