Sept. 25, 2005

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The 12th-ranked Navy water polo rebounded from a subpar defensive performance the night before by turning in one of its best outings of the season, defeating Bucknell, 6-2, in the third-place game of the ECAC Tournament. Navy, which improved to 11-5 with the victory, held the Bison scoreless in the first and fourth quarters for the victory.

"We had a very solid defensive outing," said Navy head coach Mike Schofield. "Tyler Hill (Houston, Texas) had an outstanding game for us, and was really a disruption on the defensive end and converted his offensive chances. He led the charge for us defensively."

Just 16 hours after allowing a season-high 14 goals in a loss to St. Francis, Navy turned in its best defensive effort of the year against Bucknell. Navy led 2-0 after one quarter, but the Bison cut the lead to 2-1 at halftime. Navy still led 3-2 after three quarters, before tightening the clamps again and outscoring Bucknell, 3-0, in the final stanza for a 6-2 triumph.

Hill and Aaron Recko (San Antonio, Texas) scored two goals each for Navy, while Bram Arnold (Lemoore, Calif.) and Michael Mulvey (Carlsbad, Calif.) tallied one goal each. George Naughton (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) made six saves for the Mids in goal.

"We didn't get any scoring from our juniors and seniors. I thought we had that problem fixed last weekend," said Schofield. "We need more consistent play from them. We'll work on that this week for next weekend."

Navy will travel back to Princeton next weekend for a pair of league games against Princeton and Salem International.

# GO NAVY #