Poughkeepsie, NY – The top seeded Wagner College women's water polo team captured its seventh Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) championship in the last nine years with a convincing 18-7 victory over LIU on Sunday.
#13 Wagner (18) vs. #23 LIU (7)
The Seahawks captured a league-best 10th championship with a quick start as the Seahawks outscored the Sharks 3-0 in the opening 3:38 of the contest. Senior
Sofia Diaz Alvarez tallied the opening goal as sophomore
Mar Navarro continued the run with two goals before LIU called a timeout. Following the timeout, LIU responded with a goal to cut the Wagner lead to 3-1 before sophomore
Andrea Arias and junior
Skye Nankervis gave Wagner a 5-1 lead after the opening stanza.
The Seahawks carried its momentum into the second quarter as they outscored LIU 5-1 in the second eight minutes.
Skye Nankervis opened the scoring shortly after winning her second of three sprints in the contest. Following the goal from Nankervis,
Andrea Arias tallied her second goal before Nankervis completed her hat trick.
Mar Navarro and fifth year senior
Malia Josephson rounded out the scorers for Wagner in the second stanza.
With a 10-2 lead heading into the second half, Wagner outscored LIU 4-2 behind two goals from junior
Abbey Simshauser, senior
Pip Nash and freshman
Carlota Alonso.
Wagner outscored LIU 4-3 in the final stanza as Mali Josephson,
Sofia Diaz Alvarez,
Abbey Simshauser, and
Mar Navarro each tallied goals.
Mar Navarro was named MVP as she tallied four goals and five assists in the championship game. Skey Nankervis tallied two goals on four shots to go along with two steals. Senior goalkeeper
Kristina Bell stopped 10 out of 16 shots faced in the contest.
Malia Josephson,
Mar Navarro, and
Kristina Bell were named to the All-Tournament team.
The Seahawks claimed its 17th consecutive victory in the process, tying the longest in program history.
Wagner will find out its NCAA Tournament destiny tomorrow, April 25 on the NCAA selection show at 8:00 P.M.
