Poughkeepsie, NY – The #13 Wagner College women's water polo team will participate in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) tournament this weekend at Marist College.
Last Time Out
The Seahawks claimed victories over #23 LIU and St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday, April 15 to claim the MAAC regular season title before defeating #25 Marist in the regular season finale on Sunday, April 16 to close out a perfect 16-0 conference regular season.
Conference Success
The Seahawks end the 2022 regular season with a 92-5 record since 2014 in conference play and conclude the regular season with a 16-0 mark in MAAC contests. The 2014 season was the first of six consecutive MAAC Championships for Wagner. Prior to the run beginning in 2014, the Seahawks appeared in the MAAC Championship game 2011, 2012, and 2013 but fell to Iona all three times.
The Seahawks have appeared in 13 MAAC Championship games while claiming a conference leading nine titles. Prior to the 2021 season, either Wagner, Marist, or Iona has appeared in every championship since 2003 and those three schools are the only three to ever capture a title.
In 2016, 2017, and 2018 Wagner went unbeaten in conference play as the Seahawks went 12-0 in 2016 and 14-0 in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, Wagner finished the conference schedule with a 14-1 record and a 2-0 record in 2020 as the season was cut short due to COVID-19 before the Seahawks opted out of the 2021 season.
The Seahawks last conference loss came in the 2019 regular season finale on a forfeit against Marist. Before that forfeit, Wagner's last MAAC defeat came 1,464 days before on April 11, 2015, against the Red Foxes.
The Seahawks wrapped up the regular season title on Friday, April 15 with a 21-4 victory over St Francis Brooklyn and wrapped up its fourth perfect conference record since 2016 after the victory over Marist in the regular season finale.
Winning Ways
From January 29 to March 2, the Seahawks won 15 consecutive games which matched the second longest winning streak in program history as Wagner won 17 consecutive games in 2017 and 2018.
The Green & White concluded the regular season with a 15-game winning streak from March 12 to April 16 and have never had multiple winning streaks of double-digit victories in a single season in program history until this season.
Wagner began the season 2-2 through the first four games of the season and proceeded to launch a 30-1 record in the final 31 games of the season, all of the Wagner losses came against nationally ranked opponents.
The Seahawks tallied the highest goals per game average in the history of the MAAC with 16.6 goals per game in a single season and tallied the second most goals in a single season in conference history with 582. The 2019 Seahawks scored the most goals as they found the back of the net 615 times.
The victory over St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday, April 15 gave Wagner 31 victories in the regular season, the most in program history as the 2019 Seahawks captured 30 victories.
Seahawks Jump To #13
For the twelfth consecutive week, the Green & White remain the highest ranked east coast club in the poll and the highest ranked Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) team in the top-25.
The Seahawks are one of three MAAC teams in the poll for the eleventh consecutive week, joining #23 LIU and Marist who remains at #25.
After checking in at #23 in the CWPA preseason poll, Wagner moved up to #17 in the week one poll before moving up to #14 in week two before staying there until week six where Wagner was pushed back one spot to #15. At #15, Wagner defeated three teams who received national recognition in the week six poll at the Harvard Invitational on March 5 and March 6 and moved up to #14. The past four weeks, Wagner has checked in at #15 before checking in at #13 in the final regular season poll.
Kristina Bell And Abbey Simshauser Claim MAAC Weekly Honors
Senior
Kristina Bell and junior
Abbey Simshauser of the #15 Wagner College women's water polo team earned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Defensive & Offensive Player of the Week awards, the conference announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Bell is the only goalkeeper in program history to claim seven Defensive Player of the Week honors in the same season as she passed former Seahawk Emily Riddle claimed five in 2017 on her way to winning MAAC Defensive Player of the Year.
This past weekend, the senior goalkeeper claimed three victories in three starts while stopping 27 shots on 46 faced. The Atascadeo, CA native held a .587 save percentage along with three steals. She held #25 Marist to one goal in the second half in the regular season finale on Saturday, April 16.
In the regular season, Bell won 29 out of 32 starts while sporting a .532 save percentage to go along with 24 saves. She also had 15 steals and 1 assist in the regular season.
Abbey Simshauser found the back of the net 10 times on 17 shots while dishing out seven assists in three victories this past weekend. The Sydney, Australia native drew three exclusions while tallying six steals.
Simshauser ended the regular season with 90 goals, 52 assists, and 142 points. The junior also tallied 46 steals and drew 54 exclusions.
Abbey Simshauser Named Co-Offensive Player of The Year, Ciaran Wolohan Coach of the Year
Abbey Simshauser was named MAAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year while head coach
Ciaran Wolohan was tabbed as the Coach of the Year as six members of the #13 Wagner women's water polo team earned All-Conference honors, the conference announced on Friday morning.
Along with being named Co-Offensive Player of the Year,
Abbey Simshauser also earned First Team All-MAAC honors. Senior's
Sofia Diaz Alvarez and
Kristina Bell, sophomore's
Mar Navarro and
Andrea Arias, and fifth year senior
Malia Josephson all earned Second Team All-MAAC honors as they rounded out the individual player honors for the regular season champions.
This is the third time the Seahawks have won Offensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year in the same season and six All-Conference members is a program record.
Head coach
Ciaran Wolohan earned his first career Coach of the Year honor at the helm of the Seahawks, the Wagner graduate guided the Seahawks to a 32-3 regular season and a perfect 16-0 mark in conference play while compiling two 15-game winning streaks in the process. Wolohan becomes the fourth coach to earn Coach of the Year honors as Chris Radmonovich claimed this honor three times from 2013-2018. Patrick Beemer and Aaron Cavagnolo round out the other coaches to win the award. Since taking over for Chris Radmonovich in before the 2020 season, Wolohan is sporting a 46-8 record and is unbeaten in MAAC contests.
Abbey Simshauser becomes the sixth Seahawk to win Offensive Player of the Year as she joins Erica Hardy, Kimberly Watson, Jessica Lundgren, Chelsea Beck, and Billy Hoelck. Watson and Lundgren claimed the award twice. The Sydney, Australia finished the regular season with 90 goals on 173 shots, 52 assists, 142 points, a .520 shooting percentage, 54 exclusions, and 46 steals in 34 games played.
Sofia Diaz Alvarez picks up her third All-MAAC honor of her career as the senior was named MAAC Rookie of the Year in 2019 and was named to the First Team the same season. The Madrid, Spain native played in all 35 games this season while scoring 80 goals on 175 shots, dished out 48 assists and tallied 128 points. Diaz Alvarez tallied 51 steals and finished the regular season with a .457 shot percentage.
In her first season as a Seahawk,
Kristina Bell earns All-Conference honors after claiming seven Defensive Player of the Week honors, the most in program history in a single season. The Atascadero, CA native started 32 out of 35 games while sporting a 29-3 record. Bell stopped 224 out of 433 shots for a .517 save percentage.
Malia Josephson claims her first All-Conference honor in her fifth season on Grymes Hill, Josephson lead the team with 158 points in 35 games while scoring 76 goals and dishing out a team-leading 82 assists. The Mount Maunganui, New Zealand native tallied 33 steals and drew 33 exclusions.
Andrea Arias led the Seahawks with 98 goals on 177 shots to go along with a .554 save percentage. In her first season on Grymes Hill, the Madrid, Spain native tallied 125 points, 27 assists, 47 drawn exclusions and 32 steals.
In her first season on Grymes Hill,
Mar Navarro claimed her first All-Conference honor after starting all 35 games and scoring 57 goals on 109 shots. The Barcelona, Spain native finished the regular season with 60 assists, 117 points, and a .523 shooting percentage.
About #4 La Salle
La Salle ended the regular season with a 22-13 overall record and a 9-7 mark in MAAC play while falling to Wagner twice in the regular season.
Graduate student Kalista Hyham was named Co-Offensive Player of the Year with
Abbey Simshauser and earned First Team All-MAAC honors. Hyham is one of three Explorers to earn All-Conference honors as junior goalkeeper Emma Gurassich was named to the First Team while classmate Shanna Zuanich was named to the Second Team.
About #2 (#23) LIU
The Sharks wrapped up the regular season with a 24-6 overall record and a 13-2 mark in conference play as the two losses in conference play were against the Seahawks.
Sophomore Elena Camarena was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the First Team while sophomore Paola Dominguez was named to the Second Team.
LIU ended the regular season #23 in the CWPA poll.
About #3 (#25) Marist
The hosts of the tournament ended the regular season with a 24-13 overall record and an 11-4 record in conference play. The Red Foxes dropped its two final games of the regular season to LIU and Wagner.
Senior Myriam Lizotte was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year while freshman Madeline Schultz was named Rookie of the Year for the Red Foxes. Lizotte was named to the First Team while junior Shinae Carrington was named to the Second Team.
Marist ended the regular season #25 in the CWPA poll.
2022 MAAC Tournament
Wagner will make its conference-leading 15th appearance in the tournament, as Marist will make its 11th and La Salle will make its second appearance. LIU will make its first ever appearance in the MAAC postseason tournament.
The Seahawks will take on #4 La Salle in the first semifinal at 12:00 P.M. on Saturday, April 23 while #2 LIU and #3 Marist will battle in the second semifinal at 3:00 P.M.
The winners of the semifinal contests will square off in the MAAC championship on Sunday, April 24 at 2:00 P.M. while the consolation game of the tournament will take place at 11:00 A.M. on the same day. All contests in the tournament will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
