Ann Arbor, MI – The Wagner College women's water polo team defeated Salem University, 15-9, in the NCAA Tournament Opening-Round game on Wednesday afternoon.
The victory over Salem marks the third NCAA Tournament victory in program history and the 18th consecutive victory which is a program record.
#13 Wagner (15) vs. Salem (9)
The first NCAA Tournament contest for Wagner since 2019 began with junior
Skye Nankervis winning her first of four sprints in the contest. The Tigers opened the scoring in the opening stanza before fifth-year senior
Malia Josephson opened the scoring for the Seahawks in a back-and-forth first quarter. The opening eight minutes saw both teams trade three goals each as sophomore
Mar Navarro and junior
Abbey Simshauser added goals along with
Malia Josephson.
With the game deadlocked at three entering the second stanza,
Malia Josephson opened the quarter with her second goal of the contest before Salem responded with a goal of its own. After the Tigers tied the game, sophomore
Andrea Arias put the Seahawks in front with a goal off a steal from
Mar Navarro. Salem responded to tie the game at five before freshman
Carlota Alonso put Wagner ahead for good as the Seahawks took a 6-5 lead heading into halftime.
Abbey Simshauser opened the scoring in the third quarter as Wagner went on to outscore Salem 4-2 in the third quarter. Senior
Sofia Diaz Alvarez tallied a goal in the frame along with
Andrea Arias and
Abbey Simshauser as Wagner took a 10-7 lead into the final stanza.
Wagner outscored Salem 5-2 in the final frame behind goals from
Skye Nankervis,
Mar Navarro,
Carlota Alonso and two goals from
Andrea Arias.
Andrea Arias lead the Wagner attack with four goals on six shots to go along with three exclusions drawn while
Abbey Simshauser tallied a hat trick on 10 shots and five drawn exclusions. Senior goalkeeper
Kristina Bell stopped 11 shots in the victory.
The Seahawks will take on the top seeded Stanford Cardinal in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Friday, May 6 at 12:00 P.M.
