Oct. 26, 2008

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The 16th-ranked Navy water polo team split its two games on Sunday, falling to Brown, 11-7, before defeating Princeton, 8-6, in the nightcap. The win over Princeton gives Navy the CWPA Southern Division title and moves Navy's overall record to 15-8 and 7-1 in the final CWPA South Division standings.

"We are obviously happy to earn the top seed in two weeks," said Navy head coach Mike Schofield. "We turned it around in the second game today and got a very good effort all the way around."

In the first game of the day against Brown, the Mids led 4-3 at halftime, but a 6-0 third-quarter run by Brown gave the Bears a 9-4 lead heading into the third quarter. The Mids rallied in the fourth quarter, but came up on the short end of an 11-7 score.

"Brown played very well and we did not," said Schofield. "They were very opportunistic from our mistakes and we were not. Against a good team like Brown, that will beat you every time and it cost us again today."

Kevin Bell led Navy with three goals, while Chuck Baker added two. Michael Mulvey and Kyle Wertz scored once each. Brett Rajchel stopped four shots in goal.

In the second contest of the day, the Mids jumped out to a 5-1 halftime lead, but saw Princeton rally to tie the score at six. However, Navy scored the last two goals of the game to claim the 8-6 victory and the CWPA Southern Division crown

"We played much better and were much more solid, especially defensively," said Schofield. "Jordan Carter came off the bench and really gave us a lift on both ends."

The Mids had eight different players score goals, and Rajchel stopped eight shots in goal.

Navy will be off until Nov. 7-9 when it travels back to Princeton for the CWPA Southern Division Tournament. The Mids will be the top seed for the tournament and the top four teams will reach the CWPA Eastern Championship in Annapolis on Nov. 21-23.

# GO NAVY #