Staten Island, NY - The Wagner College field hockey team improved to 5-3 on the season with its third consecutive shutout win against Northeast Conference (NEC) rival LIU on Friday evening.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Seahawks scored three separate times over the course of five minutes in the second, catalyzed by the play of senior captain Emma Lofstedt.
Lofstedt scored the first of Wagner's goals unassisted midway through the period, finding the bottom right of the cage with a shot just inside the shooting circle.
Three minutes later, Lofstedt forced the issue with an aggressive drive and found former NEC Offensive Player of the Week sophomore Floortje Leunisse in front of the net for her sixth goal of the campaign.
Two minutes after Leunisse scored, Lofstedt scored her second of the game off of a corner opportunity. Sophomore Pilar Lorenzini gets credit for the assist as Lofstedt took one touch and fired the ball into the back of the net.
In the second half, sophomore Natalie McGivern tapped in a rebound off of a Lorenzini shot to grant Wagner a 4-0 advantage over three quarters of play. McGivern earned her first goal of the season on the play.
In net, freshman Saar van Dalen faced five shots, two on target, throughout her sixty minutes of game time. Wagner held LIU without a shot or corner opportunity until the fourth quarter.
Van Dalen earned her third shutout of the year, as Wagner has outscored its opponents 13-0 over the course of the last three games.
Overall, the Seahawks took 17 shots, with nine on target, and earned nine corner opportunities compared to the Sharks four corner opportunities.
Along with an overall record of 5-3, Wagner is now 2-0 in conference play.
Next up, the Green & White will welcome Columbia to Grymes Hill on Sunday, September 29. That game is scheduled to begin at noon.
