STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Wagner College men’s water polo team, in its second year of existence, arrived on campus today to officially begin its 2017 season.
Head coach Chris Radmonovich, who enters his second year at the helm of the men’s water polo program, is coming off another successful season with the women’s squad who captured its fourth consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship last spring. In addition to becoming the first team in league history to win four straight titles, the Seahawks upended the University of California-San Diego, 6-5 on May 6, 2017 for the program’s first-ever National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament victory.
There’s plenty of enthusiasm surrounding the men’s team heading into the 2017 campaign after capturing a fifth-place finish in the newly formed Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) in the Seahawks’ inaugural 2016 season. Among Wagner’s ten wins last season were end-of-the-year triumphs over Connecticut College (18-6 W) and the United States Naval Academy (16-13 W). The season came to an end following a hard-fought loss to Fordham University in opening round of the 2016 MAWPC Championship, as the Rams pulled out a 9-7 win with back-to-back late fourth quarter goals.
Radmonovich, who welcomes 12 incoming players to join his 12 returners from the 2016 team, is confident that the Green & White can improve on last year’s 10-20 record.
“I am both thrilled and excited to start our second year of competition in the Mid Atlantic Water Polo Conference,” says Radmonovich. “I look forward to this year’s team building upon last year’s success while becoming a winning fixture in the water polo community.”
Wagner’s returnees include a pair of All-MAWPC selections in First-Team selection Ciaran Wolohan (Manly, Australia/St. Aloysius College [Golden West College]) and All-Second Team choice Oscar Nomura (Irvine, Calif./Irvine). Wolohan, a senior utility, led the team with 68 goals, 37 steals and 95 drawn exclusions, while Nomura embarks on his second season as a driver for the Green & White after logging 49 goals, 25 steals and nine blocks in his rookie campaign.
For the second straight year, the Seahawks open their 32-game slate on Labor Day weekend with four matches at the Brown University Bruno Classic in Providence, R.I. The Green & White will face a pair of West Coast teams, California Baptist University and University of the Pacific on September 2 before battling Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University on September 3. The matchup with MIT will be one to look forward to as the Seahawks will look to reverse a 14-13 loss to the Engineers in 2016.
The Green & White will continue as members of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference-East Region, which will again be administered by the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA). The winner of the league championship will receive an automatic berth to the 2017 NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship, which will be held December 2-3 at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center located on the campus of the University of Southern California.
Release courtesy Wagner College Athletics Communications
