Sept. 1, 2009
• Schedule | Roster
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy's senior class has been a huge reason for a lot of the success over the last three years for the Navy water polo program.
Now, facing its last chance, the class will attempt to do something no other team in Navy history and only two programs have done in league history -- win four straight CWPA Eastern Championships.
"It would obviously be wonderful for all sorts of reasons. This is the biggest senior class we have ever had and it would be nice for them to go out like that," said head coach Mike Schofield. "We know we are going to get everyone's best shot, but we'll be ready for it.
"Our goals are the same as always -- win Easterns and make the NCAAs. That is our goal every year," said Schofield. "We also have an academic goal of a team GPA of 3.0 or better. We haven't been quite as successful there, but they do a good job in the classroom. We just want to see the team step it up a bit more there, just like in the pool."
Schofield is looking to his seniors to lead the squad again this year, much like the senior classes have done in years past. The team captain, goalkeeper Brett Rajchel, has impressed Schofield during the past few months.
"He has validated the fact that everyone felt he should be the captain. He has been great all summer and an inspiration to the team," said Schofield, in reference to Rajchel. "With the other guys, some have been better than others. They were on a preseason trip to California, and for the most part, the reviews were positive."
Rajchel had a strong season last year in goal for the Mids, his first season of action, stopping 248 shots in goal, the sixth most in school history.
Schofield also expects Rajchel's classmates, Kevin Bell and Johnny Meiners, to have big seasons.
Bell is Navy's returning career leading scorer with 108 career points (59 g, 49 a) after tallying 50 as a sophomore and 46 as a junior.
Meiners was named a second-team All-East honoree last year after scoring a career-best 49 points (30 g, 19 a) and he has recorded 72 career points (42 g, 30 a).
In addition, Schofield is looking for more from seniors Zack Anderson and Drew Kollmann, who saw limited action last fall, but have shown promise in the spring and summer workouts.
"I don't think there is a senior on the team that does not have significant room to improve. They would hopefully say the same thing," said Schofield. "We are just looking for all of our seniors to get better. They have gotten better each year, so I expect nothing different. The last thing we need them to do is plateau and level off."
The Mids do have a returning All-American on the roster is sophomore Kyle Wertz. Wertz scored 63 points last year, the third most in school history by a freshman, and became the school's first plebe to earn All-America honors, grabbing honorable mention accolades.
Despite all the talent and success, Schofield still thinks Wertz has much to improve on.
"Kyle had a great year last year for us obviously, but he has as much room for improvement on the team as anyone. He has a lot of talent, but we need Kyle to be more consistent in his day-to-day training and routine. We think he can really step up and lead by example and develop more of an understanding of the game. We are excited to see what he can do this year."
One of the biggest questions Schofield faces for the upcoming season is who will replace two-time All-American Michael Mulvey. Mulvey graduated last year as the school's fifth-leading scorer with 314 career points, including 105 as a senior.
"It's going to have to be done by committee. There is no one on this team that has that dominant personality that Michael had," said Schofield. "But we do have a lot of guys back who have played a lot and have the ability to really step up. What we need this year is a nice balance between right-handers and left-handers. That will be a big part of what we want to do this year."
Schofield is hoping from contributions from a slew of players that saw limited action last year to fill the void left by Mulvey and his classmates.
The most likely candidates appear to be juniors Jordan Carter, Luke Baldwin and Alex Kofsky and sophomores Stevie Ray, Matt Carlson and Conor Handley.
Carter played in 17 games last year with four points, but scored a key goal in Navy's CWPA Eastern title-winning game against Princeton last November.
Baldwin started most of the year last year and ranked second on the team with 22 assists (33 points total). Baldwin is a versatile player that can help the team out in many ways.
Kofsky played in 28 games with 27 goals, tallying six points (4 g, 2 a) in the thrilling CWPA Eastern semifinal win over St. Francis (N.Y.). He is one of the strongest shooters on the team and just needs to become more consistent.
Ray played in just two games last fall, but gives the Mids the size (6-5, 217) and mobility to be a big threat this year.
Carlson had an outstanding spring after scoring three goals in five games last year.
Conor Handley played in three games last year, but is another player with good size that has had a solid offseason.
Schofield also expects some members of the freshman class to step up and see playing time, but he did not mention any names.
"The whole freshmen class is very similar. The players are not huge but have decent size," said Schofield. "They are very quick and have good ball-handling skills. We can't wait to see how they develop."
As usual, Navy will load up on a big schedule for the 2009 season. The Mids will face California and Stanford in the opening weekend of action at the Navy Open, then will face a good UC San Diego team a week later. Navy will also play in the SoCal Tournament as well as the ECAC Tournament.
With a big roster, Schofield sees it as a way to get game experience to everyone.
"We like to load up on our schedule, and the more games we play, the more experience we will get," said Schofield. "If we play a bunch of games, a lot of guys will play. It gives guys plenty of opportunities to see what they can do and the second and third-line guys will get a chance. It will help us later in October and November to be as good as we can be, while stressing fitness and playing lots of minutes."
The 2009 NCAA Championships will be held at Princeton this year. With the Army-Navy football game being moved a week later, Schofield knows it would be nice for the chance to play in front of an East Coast crowd.
"It would be just as nice as it ever is," said Schofield. "There would be nothing better than to play in the NCAAs. That is our goal every year."
The Mids have played in 14 NCAA Tournaments, the sixth most in NCAA history.
# GO NAVY #
