Sept. 3, 2011
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy water polo team defeated St. Francis, N.Y. in dramatic fashion on Saturday night as the Midshipmen registered a 9-8 victory in sudden-death overtime. The Mids (2-0) trailed by as many as five goals before rallying for the come-from-behind win.
"Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good," said Navy head coach Mike Schofield.
Leading 4-1 after the first quarter, 11th-ranked St. Francis N.Y. scored twice within the first 1:10 of the second quarter to up its lead to 6-1. The Midshipmen were able to close the gap as Darren McKay and Stevie Ray each scored before the end of the quarter to cut the deficit to 6-3 at the half.
Scotty Snowden found the back of the net for Navy in the third quarter to make the score 6-4 before Connor Handley pulled Navy within one when he scored with just over four minutes left in the fourth.
The two teams then traded goals as the Terriers lead, 7-6, with under one minute to play in the fourth. With just :07 remaining, Kyle Wertz beat St. Francis goalkeeper Igor Mladenovic to tie the game at seven.
Trailing 8-7 in overtime, Wertz came through again for Navy as he retied the game at eight with 1:22 to play.
Paul Pedrotty sealed the Navy comeback when he scored on a penalty shot in sudden-death overtime to give Navy a 9-8 victory.
Navy goalkeeper Anthony Gutierrez came up big for Navy as he made a total of 10 stops, including nine in the second half.
Ray, Wertz and Pedrotty all finished with two goals apiece for Navy.
The Navy Open resumes on Sunday morning as the Mids will meet Concordia (Calif.) at 9:50 a.m.
