2018 Men’s Lacrosse Year in Review: #60 Wagner Seahawks

With the 2018 college lacrosse season complete, it’s time to start looking back at how all 71 teams did during the season, as well as what to expect from each squad for 2019.

We’ve already begun looking back to 2018 with some team recaps thus far and continued our series yesterday with Mercer.

So with that, let’s continue the recaps!

#60 Wagner Seahawks

Conference: NEC
2018 Record: 4-10 (0-6 in NEC play)
Head coach: Matt Poskay (7th Year)

Statistical Leaders

Goals: Andrew Streilein (22)
Assists: Andrew Streilein (11)
Points: Andrew Streilein (33)
Faceoffs: Hank Ontiveros (56-of-131; 42.7%)
Ground balls: Matt Sefcik (38)
Caused turnovers: Andrew Park (29)
Goals against average: Matt Sefcik (10.13 GAA)
Save percentage: Matt Sefcik (57.7%)

Personnel Losses

Key seniors departing: A Andrew Streilein (22 Gs, 11 As, 20 GBs), D Andrew Park (37 GBs, 29 CTs), M Joe Lomeli (11 Gs, 2 As, 12 GBs), D Tanner Dixon (8 GBs, 8 CTs), M JP Pawela (2 Gs, 6 As, 14 GBs)
Senior scoring departing: 57 of 152 points (37.5%)
Senior starts lost: 59 of 140 (42.1%)

Season Summary

After two consecutive 6-9 seasons, the Seahawks took a step back with a 4-10 mark in 2018. They also failed to win an NEC conference game.

Wagner began the season competitively, with three of their first five games decided by a goal. However, the Seahawks lost two of those one-goal games, with their only win coming against VMI. After beating Hampton and NJIT, Wagner lost their final five games of the season.

Once again, senior Andrew Streilein led the team on offense in goals and assists. Junior John Norton was the only other Seahawk who had at least 20 goals. Sophomore attackman Nick Acona had 20 points, while senior Joe Lomeli registered 13 points. On offense, Wagner only score 6.89 goals per game in 2018, down from 7.73 last season.

The Seahawk defense was the team’s strength for another season. Seniors Andrew Park and Tanner Dixon spearheaded the close defense unit alongside junior Kevin Doherty. Freshman Kyle Stofko also earned valuable playing time and was an Honorable Mention on our All-Freshmen selections.

Despite giving up more goals on average than they did last year, junior netminder Matt Sefcik saw his numbers increase to a 57.7% save percentage and a 10.13 goals against average.

At the faceoff X, freshman Hank Ontiveros and sophomore Nick Warren split the majority of the draws. Ontiveros had a 42.7% win percentage taking 131 draws, but Warren took 18 more draws with a 40.9% success rate.

Looking Ahead

Wagner has some work to do in 2018, replacing three of their top five leading scorers and two of their three starting defensemen. Norton and Ancona are the two 20-point scorers that will be coming back to Staten Island for the 2019 campaign.

A ton of players will need to step up for the NEC squad next season, including sophomore Dominic Branda and junior Davis Prince. Doherty and Stofko should be good keepers on defense as well with a solid goalie in Sefcik staying for his senior season.

Here’s who the Seahawks will be adding to their roster for next year.*

*Compiled from a multitude of websites. Schools usually officially announce their recruiting class during the fall semester.