Host/Division III No. 6 Whittier College Eludes Wagner College, 8-7; Wagner Proves One Better than Biola University in Sudden Victory, 13-12
WHITTIER, Calf. — Wagner College split a pair of games at the Whittier College Mini Tournament as the Seahawks fell to the host Poets, 8-7, prior to authoring a 13-12 sudden victory defeat of Biola Unviersity.
In the day’s opener against Whittier, Wagner claimed an early 2-1 lead as Mattia Bognolo notched natural (7:10) and penalty shot (4:59) strikes in the opening eight minutes to sandwich a response by the Poets Reija Mitic (6:56). The game turned, however, in favor of the home team in the second quarter as Brody Haney (5:25) and Zander Montoya (2:49, penalty shot) erased a 3-1 Wagner lead following a frame-opening tally by Matan Friedenberg (5:47) to deadlock the squads at three-all entering halftime.
Bognolo returned Wagner to the lead 15 seconds into the third quarter by lining in another penalty shot with 7:45 on the clock, but Mitic answered 40 seconds later by burying a scoring change at the 7:05 mark to once again even the damage at four-all.
The pattern repeated as Kristian Stanczewski converted a man-up bid at 4:47 to push the Seahawks back in front 5-4, but Ivan Cubelic spun in an equalizer at 1:54 to make it five-all. Friedenberg provided Wagner one final lead in the third quarter by swishing a power-play chance with 25 seconds left to make it a 6-5 game in favor of the visiting team entering the fourth quarter.
Back-to-back strikes by Cubelic (5:42) and Handey (4:03) flipped the script and pushed the Poets out to a 7-6 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Kyle Chambers knotted the score at seven-all with 3:55 remaining in regulation, but Mitic was the author of Wagner’s defeat as he arched in a shot at the 1:54 mark for the deciding blow in an 8-7 victory.
Wagner – which shot 10-of-30 from the field – was led by Bognolo who finished with three goals. Friedenberg deposited a pair with Chambers and Stanczewski slipping in solo strikes. Goalkeeper Vaughn Bui turend aside three shots in taking the loss.
Mitic (three), Cubelic (two), Haney (two) and Montoya accounted for Whittier’s offense in support of a 13 save effort by netminder Loronzo Agelucci.
In the late game against Biola, Fridenberg tossed in the deciding factor with 2:45 left in sudden death overtime as the Seahawks clawed past the Eagles by a 13-12 count.
The game was a back-and-forth affair from the opening sprint of the first quarter until Friedenberg’s game-ender.
Chambers opened the game by wailing in the icebreaker 37 seconds into the first quarter to stake Wagner to a 1-0 lead with 7:23 on the clock. John Grasso answered for Biola at 6:06 prior to Chambers (3:39) and the Eagles’ Ryle Hibbard (51 seconds) exchanging goals to set the scoreboard at two-all in the closing seconds of the opening eight minutes.
Andrew Cowie put Wagner back in front prior to the conclusion of the first quarter by uncorking a shot which eluded Biola goalkeeper Mitchell Carpenter with 18 ticks left in the opening frame.
However, Biola turned the tables on Wagner in the dawning moments of the second quarter as Caleb Hernandez (6:15) and Nolan Rapp (4:30) fired home strikes to allow the Eagles to soar out to a 4-3 margin. Smith Connors (4:16, penalty shot) and Cowie (2:31) responded in kind to set the Seahawks back in front 5-4, but Gaving McKenzie (1:14) balanced the scoreboard prior to halftime as the teams entered the break deadlocked at five-all.
Will Tibbetts (6:55) and Connors (6:07) delivered for Biola and Wagner to start the third quarter prior to Rapp (4:32, penalty shot) and Christian Trapp (4:09, man-up) cashing in for the Eagles to make it an 8-6 contest.
Friedenberg snapped Biola’s scoring spurt with one minute left on the clock to shave the Eagles’ lead back to 8-7 before McKenzie (30 seconds) and Chambers (one second, penalty shot) punched in blows for Biola and Wagner to set the scoreboard at 9-8 heading into the fourth quarter.
Patrick Ray equalized the damage at nine-all via a penalty shot with 5:52 left in regulation.
The scoring continued to go back-and-forth between the squads as Kye Seifen (5:35) and Maayan Nahari (1:51) finished out the fourth quarter with tallies for Biola and Wagner to force overtime.
Following additional back-and-forth overtime, Biola reacquired the lead in the first overtime period as Grasso gassed the Seahawks for a goal with 25 seconds on the clock. However, the duo of Chambers (12 seconds) and Bui (one second) built a 12-11 lead for Wagner heading into the second mandated OT period.
Neither team was able to score in the second OT period until Grasso notched an equalizer with 41 seconds left to bring about sudden victory and Friedenberg’s heroics.
For Wagner, Chambers (four), Cowie (two), Friedenberg (two), Connors (two), Ray, Bui and Nahari combined for the Seahawks’ scoring. Bui (seven goals allowed, five saves, 28 minutes) and Cole Chrstiansen (five goals allowed, five saves, 16 minutes) handled the goalkeeping duties.
Across the tank, Grasso (three), McKenzie (two), Rapp (two), Hernandez, Hibbard, Trapp, Siefen and Tibbetts accounted for Biola’s 12 goals to aid an eight save effort by Carpenter.
