Staten Island, NY – The Wagner College Water Polo team (7-8, 0-0 MAAC) will wrap up their west coast trip with six contests in four days in California. Wagner’s first doubleheader takes place today in Northbridge, CA, where the Seahawks will face off against No. 10 Cal. State University, Northbridge at 5:00 PM (EST) and Occidental College at 7:00 PM (EST).
This weekend, Wagner is scheduled to take part in the Aztec Invitational in San Diego, CA. During the two-day event Wagner will face four nationally ranked opponents. On Saturday, the Seahawks face off against the University of California, San Diego (RV) at 11:00 AM (EST) then No. 14 San Diego State University at 5:15 PM (EST). On Sunday, Wagner will compete against Cal. State University, Bakersfield (RV) at 1:30 PM (EST) and No. 18 Princeton University at 5:15 PM (EST).
Wagner has a lifetime record of 3-1 combined against their opponents on Thursday – with three wins coming against Occidental College. In their last match up with Occidental, the Seahawks were 14-9 winners on March 15th, 2008.
Senior goalie
Kelsey Rodgers (Anaheim Hills, CA/Canyon/Fullerton JC) continues to anchor Wagner’s lock-down defense. On Wednesday, Rodgers earned her second consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Defensive Player of the Week honor after leading the Seahawks two wins at the Cal. Lutheran Tournament. Twice she registered double digit saves, which included her third 20-plus save performance of season to hold CSU, Monterey Bay to season-low two goals . She also had 11 saves in a dominating second-half performance against No. 14 ranked University of Pacific.
For the season, Rodgers is ranked first in MAAC standings with 12.64 saves per games, nearly three saves per game better than Iona’s Kathleen Link 9.60 second place average. She is the main contributor to Wagner’s second-ranked defense that has allowed only 9.06 goals per contest. Rodgers sits second on Wagner’s all-time save list with 492 stops.
On offensive, the Seahawks rank second in the MAAC standings with 8.40 goals per game. As of late, the main offensive threat is junior
Laura Vanderbent (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin), who registered seven goals last weekend, including a career-high four scores and the game winning marker with 25 seconds left in Wagner’s 8-7 win over Cal. Lutheran. She is currently riding a 10-game scoring streak, in which she tallied 19 of her 21 goals this season.
The Seahawks take on No. 10 Cal. State University, Northbridge and Occidental College today. The games will take place in Northbridge, CA and are scheduled for 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM, east coast time.