Sept. 19, 2008

DAVIS, Calif. -- The 13th-ranked Navy water polo team started its weekend off on the right foot, by downing 11th-ranked UC Davis, 6-5, on Friday night. The win moves Navy's record to 7-4 overall.

The Mids were up 5-2 at halftime, then hung on in the second half for the one-goal victory. Navy was bolstered by its 5-on-6 defense. The Mids held UC Davis to just one goal in 11 man-up opportunities.

"Pretty much our ability to play 5-on-6 defense was the big reason for the win," said Navy head coach Mike Schofield. "Brett (Rajchel) came up big for us. He made some big saves and we made enough plays down the stretch to win the game. It wasn't a thing of beauty, but we are glad with the win. We played very tough, and it prepares us pretty well for the weekend."

The Mids led 2-0 after the first quarter on goals by Kevin Bell and Marek Malik. Navy stretched the lead to 3-0 just 29 seconds into the second quarter on a Michael Mulvey goal. UC Davis cut the lead to 3-2 minutes later, but Mulvey and Malik scored goals in the last three minutes to push the halftime lead to 5-2.

The Aggies trimmed the margin to 5-3 after three quarters, but Luke Baldwin scored with three minutes left to bump the lead back to 6-3. UC Davis scored 23 seconds later, and tallied a meaningless goal with three seconds left to cut the final margin to 6-5.

Mulvey and Malik had two goals each, while Bell and Baldwin scored once. Rajchel stopped 10 shots in goal for the victory.

Navy will now head to Stockton, Calif., for the weekend's NorCar Tournament. Navy will open with sixth-ranked Loyola Marymount at noon (PT), in a rematch of the NCAA Tournament consolation game a year ago.

"They are loaded, and will be a force tomorrow. It definitely helps having played them last year, as we are somewhat familiar with them," said Schofield. "We are really looking forward to the weekend and we got off to a good start tonight."

Navy will play either Stanford or Santa Clara in its next game at 4:00 or 5:20 pm (PT).

# GO NAVY #