Nov. 21, 2008
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* Tournament Schedule
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The 14th-ranked Navy water polo team outscored Iona, 7-3, in the second quarter, lifting the Mids to a 14-10 victory over the Gaels in the CWPA Eastern Championship quarterfinals on Friday afternoon. The win improves Navy's record to 18-9 overall and into Saturday's semifinal showdown with 12th-ranked St. Francis (N.Y.), beginning at 7:00 pm at Lejeune Hall.
Navy has now won its first-round game at the Eastern Championship seven straight years and is now 23-4 in CWPA first-round games all-time. Navy improved to 57-22 in 27 CWPA Eastern Tournament appearances and ran its record to 38-0 against Iona.
Iona scored the game's first goal of the contest 53 seconds into the first quarter, but Navy responded with three goals in a span of one minute, 33 seconds to take a 3-1 lead midway through the first quarter. The Gaels scored the period's last goal to cut the Navy advantage to 3-2 after one quarter.
The Mids then blew the game open in the second quarter, outscoring Iona, 7-3, to take a 10-5 halftime lead. The Mids pushed the margin to four goals on a Luke Baldwin goal and Michael Mulvey scored a pair of tallies in the period's first four minutes to increase the Mids' lead to 7-3.
Iona cut the margin to 7-4 moments later, but Jordan Carter and Chuck Baker scored once each in a 3-1 run to give Navy the five-goal halftime cushion.
Navy essentially put the game away in the first two minutes of the second half, as Kevin Bell and Kyle Wertz scored to give Navy a 12-5 lead, which remained the score after three quarters.
Iona outscored the Mids, 5-2, in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late as Navy defeated the Gaels, 14-10, to advance to the semfinals.
Mulvey and Wertz scored three goals each, while Bell and Alex Kofsky tallied a pair of goals each. Brett Rajchel stopped 14 shots in goal for Navy.
The Mids will battle St. Francis (N.Y.), the second seed, in the semifinals at 7:00 pm in Lejeune Hall. Navy defeated the Terriers, 9-8, during the Navy Open on Sept. 7.
# GO NAVY #
