Sept. 1, 2012
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's water polo team (2-0) won a pair of games at the Navy Open at Scott Natatorium on Saturday to open the 2012 season. Navy first defeated Gannon, 25-5, in its opener and then dropped Iona, 17-12, in its second game of the day.
Against Gannon, Navy jumped out to a 7-2 lead after the first quarter and expanded the margin to 10-3 by halftime. Navy then dominated the third quarter, outscoring Gannon, 8-1, en route to the 20-point win.
Senior Paul Pedrotty (Coronado, Calif.) led the Mids against Gannon with a game-high five goals.
Senior Jesse Walker (Seattle, Wash.) scored three goals, as did senior Archie Warren (Balitmore, Md.) and sophomore Matt Newby (Los Angeles, Calif.). Newby scored all three of his goals in the fourth quarter.
The Iona-Navy contest was much closer than the opener. Navy and Iona were tied at 3-3 after the first quarter and the Mids led just 6-5 at halftime.
The Mids then outscored Iona, 7-3, in the third quarter to open up a 13-8 lead. Navy held on to its five-goal margin as both teams were even at 4-4 in the fourth quarter and Navy posted the 17-12 victory.
Pedrotty again led Navy in scoring in the nightcap, putting in four goals to finish with nine on the day.
Walker, senior Tyler Thein (Timonium, Md.) and sophomore Thomas Patterson (Orange, Calif.) all recorded hat tricks against Iona.
The Mids will continue action at the Navy Open on Sunday with games against Notre Dame (OH) at 8:15 AM and Cerritos College (Calif.) at 3:20 PM.
