Oct. 20, 2007
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The 11th-ranked Navy water polo team pieced together three strong performances on Saturday to cruise past a trio of foes. The Mids topped George Washington, 16-4, in the first game, beat 20th-ranked Princeton, 14-8, and then defeated 15th-ranked Air Force, 10-7, in the nightcap. Navy improved to 19-5 with the victories.
"It was a good performance all day for us," said Navy head coach Mike Schofield. "We played a lot of players and got everyone some action. It was an encouraging performance, heading into tomorrow and then the postseason."
In the first game of the day, a 16-4 rout of George Washington, Navy jumped out to a 7-1 advantage, and then outscored the Colonials, 9-3 in the second half for the easy victory. Thirteen different players scored goals, including 11 different players scoring one goal each. Alex Kofsky, Joel Cuda and Zack Anderson all scored their first career goals, while all 37 players saw action.
"Obviously, it was a very good performance for us," said Schofield. "It's always great to be able to play everyone. It was really nice to see Alex Kofsky and Joel Cuda score their first career goals."
In the middle game, a 14-8 decision over 20th-ranked Princeton, the Mids overcame a shaky second quarter to breeze past the Tigers. The Mids outscored Princeton, 7-2, in the third quarter to break open a tight game. Bram Arnold and Aaron Recko scored three goals each, while Mike Mulvey tallied a pair. George Naughton stopped eight shots in three quarters, while Steve Craney made four saves.
In the nightcap, a 10-7 decision over 15th-ranked Air Force, Recko scored four goals, while Mulvey had three. Andrew Bingham, Reed MacKenzie and Marek Malik scored once. Naughton recorded 15 saves in goal.
"Air Force is obviously a big rival of ours, and it's good to beat them. They played very tough, but we didn't back down," added Schofield. "It was another good performance."
The Mids will host a trio of games on Sunday, battling Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Brown, beginning at 9:00 am, in Lejeune Hall. With a win over Johns Hopkins, Navy will record its second straight undefeated Southern Division record.
# GO NAVY #
