After a back-and-forth fifty minutes, the NEC's Defensive Player of the Year sophomore defender Julia de Leeuw found the back of the cage, capitalizing on Wagner's third penalty corner of the game. With just under 10 minutes in the game, the Netherlands native put Wagner ahead in the program's first NCAA Tournament game. 

Fairfield received a late penalty corner at the 58:32 mark. Stags midfielder Konni Hofmann fired a shot on target off the set piece, but DiGenova came up with a save — one of eight on the afternoon — to preserve the historic win.

Along with her goal, de Leeuw also added one defensive save to her game stat-line. DiGenova tallied eight saves which marked a season-high for the transfer. The King of Prussia, Pennsylvania native tallied her 10th win and seventh shutout of the year.

In a rematch of the 2024 and 2025 NEC Championship games, Fairfield attempted 15 shots with nine placed on target while Wagner took six shots with four on target. The Stags attempted nine penalty corners compared to three for the Seahawks. At the half, Fairfield took three penalty corners while holding Wagner without one attempt. 

The Stags added pressure in the third period with four penalty corners and forcing four DiGenova saves. The Seahawks defense held strong, holding Fairfield without a goal for the first time all season. 

Coming into the Opening Round game, Wagner was 2-8 all-time against Fairfield, including a 1-3 record in the NEC's postseason and an 0-2 mark in the NEC's title game.

Wagner becomes the second different NEC team to win an NCAA Opening Round game, joining Fairfield who beat American by a score of 3-1 in 2019 and Boston University by a score of 1-0 in 2025.

With the win, the Seahawks (12-7, 8-0 NEC) advance to the First Round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament to take on No. 2 Maryland at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex at the University of Maryland. Start time between the Seahawks and the Terrapins is set for noon on ESPN+.