Nov. 7, 2010

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy water polo team got five goals from senior Luke Baldwin to help the Midshipmen defeat Johns Hopkins, 13-4, in the third-place game of the CWPA Southern Division Tournament on Sunday.

"Today was good," said Navy head coach Mike Schofield. "Sometimes, when you lose, your focus can be hard to find the next day. But we played well today."

After being upset by Bucknell on Saturday, the Mids found themselves in a hole early on Sunday as Johns Hopkins took a 2-0 lead courtesy of a pair of goals by Ross Schofield. The deficit proved to be short lived though, as Kyle Wertz and Conor Handley each scored before the end of the quarter to tie the game at two.

As one of six seniors playing in their final home game, Baldwin helped Navy take over the contest in the second quarter. He scored three of the team's four goals in the frame to give the Mids a 6-3 lead at the half.

JHU's Mark Strickland and Baldwin traded goals off penalty shots less than a minute into the third quarter before Handley and Darren McKay each tallied their second goals of the game to push Navy's lead to 9-4 at the end of the third quarter.

The Mids put the game away with four goals in the fourth quarter, making the final score 13-4.

In goal, Navy sophomore Anthony Gutierrez finished with nine stops.

"It was nice to start and end the day with our senior class in the water," Schofield said. "We're looking forward to the Eastern Championships now."

Navy, now 23-6 on the season, will return to action at the CWPA Eastern Championships on Nov. 19 in Lewisburg, Pa. Official pairings will be released early this week.