Sept. 11, 2010

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The 14th-ranked Navy water polo team lost for the first time in the 2010 season, but won a pair of games on Saturday at the Bucknell Invitational. Navy topped Queens, 20-8, and Diablo Valley College, 9-3, but fell to CWPA Eastern rival St. Francis, 10-8.

Navy enters the second day of the Bucknell Invite with a 10-1 overall record.

Navy won its first action of the day with a 20-8 victory over Queens. The Mids led 11-2 at halftime before coasting in for the 12-goal decision. The 20 goals was a season high. Conor Handley led Navy with four goals, while Stevie Ray had three tallies. Four players tallied two goals each.

In the second game of the day, the Mids fell behind 4-0 after one quarter to St. Francis and were forced to rally the entire game. Navy trailed 8-4 at the half, but cut the lead to 8-7 and had four chances, including two extra-man opportunities to tie the game, but could not convert on any of the opportunities. St. Francis then added some late insurance goals to hand Navy its first loss of the season, 10-8.

"We came out sloppy in the first half and showed that we are not ready for primetime. They made us pay in the first half and we hurt ourselves by going 3-of-9 on the EMO," said Navy head coach Mike Schofield. "We had some great chances and we gave them away. We are not ready for primetime, and St. Francis is a very good team. We have a lot of work to do."

Luke Baldwin scored three times against St. Francis, while Handley had a pair of goals.

In the last game of the day, Navy led 7-3 at halftime and played a lot of younger players in a 9-3 win over Diablo Valley. Stevie Ray led Navy with four goals.

Navy will conclude play on Sunday at 1:30 pm against Brown and at 4:00 pm against Penn State-Behrend.

# GO NAVY #