Staten Island, N.Y. – Sophomore Ariana Calderon (Sacramento, Calif.) and the Long Island University(w) women’s soccer team opened Northeast Conference play with an impressive 3-0 win over Wagner at Wagner Stadium on Friday afternoon. Calderon led the way with a goal and assist, while juniors Brittany Schandelmayer (Stow, Mass.) and Kayleigh Morgan (Harlow, England) chipped in with goals to help LIU improve to 5-3-0 on the year.

The Blackbirds came out aggressive looking to snap a three-game scoreless streak and nearly opened the score in the third minute when junior Lara Martinez (West Chester, Ohio) slipped behind the Wagner defense with a pin-point shot, but saw her attempt stifled by Sam Schueschner. LIU continued its early onslaught with a pair of shots from Calderon, but the Seahawks fired back in the sixth minute when Kelsey Brenner found herself with an open attempt at the LIU goal, but her shot went off the post and was cleared away by freshman Jeannette Dolmetsch (Northville, Mich.) to deny any rebound.

LIU continued to attack and in the 12th minute junior Samantha Bock (Fullerton, Calif.) took a long shot from the left side that Schueschner was unable to control. The rebound rolled to Calderon who calmly buried her shot into the unguarded net for a 1-0 lead. Schandelmayer atoned for having an earlier shot blocked and another glance off the crossbar when she added to the lead in the 25th minute. The midfielder got her goal after corralling a loose ball and sending home a low shot from 15 yards out to push the lead to 2-0.

With a two-goal advantage to open the second half Long Island was comfortable in holding off the Wagner pressure after halftime. The Seahawks put 11 shots on frame in the period, but freshman Jennifer Bannon (East Providence, R.I.) managed to turn them all away and protect LIU’s lead. The Blackbirds sealed the win in the 78th minute when Calderon won a goal kick just inside midfield and fed a pass to Morgan who finished off the breakaway with a hard shot from 15 yards out.

LIU finished with a 22-17 advantage in shots and Bannon made a career-high 13 saves for her fifth shutout of the year.

The Blackbirds are off until Friday, Oct. 2, when they travel to Emmitsburg, Md., to take on Mount St. Mary’s in another conference matchup.