Oct. 3, 2006

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The 10th-ranked Navy water polo team jumped out to a 9-0 lead early in the second quarter and breezed to a 16-5 victory on Tuesday night over George Washington. The win improves Navy's record to 15-5 overall and keeps the Mids' record spotless in league play at 5-0. GWU dropped to 6-6 overall.

"That was a lot of fun, or at least that is what the players told me," said Navy head coach Mike Schofield. "It was the most relaxed and loose we have played all year, and we established ourselves early and got off to a good start. Everyone played and it was just a fun night."

Navy scored four goals in the first four minutes of the contest to grab an early 4-0 lead. Aaron Recko scored twice in the early run. The Mids stretched the lead to 9-0 with 5:07 to play in the second quarter. Recko, Bram Arnold and Andrew Plumb scored twice in the game-opening run.

The Mids, however, would go over eight minutes without a goal, as GWU cut the lead to 9-3 early in the second half. But Navy scored the final three goals of the third quarter for a 12-3 advantage heading into the fourth quarter, where Navy outscored the Colonials, 4-2, for the 16-5 victory.

Arnold led the Mids with four goals, while Todd Carlson, Recko and Plumb all scored two. Mike Mulvey, Andrew Bingham, Eric Gardiner, Connor Herron, Reed McKenzie and Dan Zoellick all scored one goal. Three goalies, highlighted by a strong performance from Steve Craney, split time in goal for Navy.

"Our defense was more active and helped out more when someone got in trouble. We have been focusing more on defense in practice and hopefully, we can keep improving," said Schofield. "Steve played a very good game in goal and is probably a better passer on the fast break than George (Naughton) is. It helped a lot because we had quite a few fast-break goals."

Schofield was also appreciative of the support that the Brigade gave his team on Tuesday.

"We love playing in MacDonough Hall," said Schofield. "The Brigade really comes out and supports us, and its a tough, loud place to play. We are really hoping they are out in full-force in a week-and-a-half against Princeton and Bucknell."

Navy hits the road this weekend for a 1:00 pm game at No. 14-ranked Princeton on Saturday.