ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy water polo team used an explosive second period to overcome an early Harvard advantage and lead to the Mids' eventual 15-10 victory in quarterfinal action of the CWPA Championship tournament. For the second straight game on Friday, Carpenter Warren (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) led Navy's offensive charge as he recorded seven points on six goals and an assist.

Play between the third-seeded Crimson of Harvard and the sixth-seeded Mids began ominously as the higher-ranked visitors from Massachusetts jumped out to an early 2-0 lead by the 4:55 mark of the first quarter. After being held off the scoreboard for over four and a half minutes, Navy finally found the back of the net as Warren scored at 3:29. Following a stressful penalty kill with its goalie excluded, the Mids got right back at it in the offensive end of the pool with a conversion by Robert Sutherland (Jr., Denton, Texas). With the score tied at 2-2, Harvard retook the lead late in the first quarter to go into the break up by one.

Less than two minutes into the second quarter, Navy took advantage of a 6-5 power play as Thomas Patterson (Sr., Orange, Calif.) set up Will Weggeland (Jr., Riverside, Calif.) for the game-tying goal. Following a point blank save by goalie Garrett Sabesky (Jr., Lakeside, Calif.), the Mids scored on back-to-back possessions 25 seconds a part to take their first lead of the game at 5-3 with 4:20 showing on the clock. Thomas Allen (Jr., Fresno, Calif.) netted the first goal before David Huber (So., Fort Washington, Pa.) punctuated the series. Down the stretch in the first half, the teams traded goals with Navy receiving two scores from Warren at 2:48 and 0:11 and Harvard using Joey Colton tallies at 1:04 and 0:01.

Coming out of halftime up 7-5 and invigorated after its five-goal second quarter, the Mids kept the pressure on as they scored three of the first four goals in the opening four minutes of the third period. Sutherland, Steven Emde (Jr., Ballwin, Mo.) and Huber all found the back of the net for Navy during this stretch. With the score 10-6, each squad scored once over the final 3:37 to keep the margin at four after 24 minutes of play. Warren notched his fourth score with 45 seconds left in the period for Mids' 11th goal of the game.

Just eight minutes from a semifinal matchup against their CWPA Southern Division rival Princeton, Navy continued playing strong defense and short-circuiting Harvard power plays before responding on the other end of the pool with goals. This formula was illustrated 62 seconds into the fourth quarter as Carl Dowzicky (Jr., Collegeville, Pa.) intercepted a Crimson transition pass and quickly hit Patterson for a breakaway goal. After Harvard scored once to make it 12-8, Warren rounded out his stellar outing with back-to-back scores at 4:31 and 4:09. With time counting down and the game in hand, the teams traded goals with the Crimson scoring twice and Navy once to make it a 15-10 final score. Senior Matt Newby (Los Angeles, Calif.) netted the Midshipmen marker at 2:46 after Navy burned 29 seconds off of the shot clock.

In the 15-10 victory, the Mids held the Crimson to just four power play goals on 12 opportunities and recorded 13 steals on defense. Patterson led a quartet of Navy players with multiple steals as he had four thefts. Warren (three steals), Dowzicky (two) and Sabesky (two) all played leading roles in the Mids' suffocating defensive effort. Sabesky also added 12 saves to round out his game in goal.

"We had very good performances in both games today," remarked Navy head coach Mladen Stanicic after the Harvard contest. "Our transition game worked well as it was set up by defensive stops, particularly our man-down defense. I'm real proud of that effort, as we even managed to stop a Harvard power play without a goalie. Kudos to our guys for a gritty performance."

With its two wins on Friday, Navy advances into the semifinals of the CWPA Championship on Saturday. Beginning at 5:45 p.m. in Lejeune Hall, the sixth-seeded Mids will take on the second-seeded Tigers of Princeton with a spot in tournament finals just a win away. Saturday's other semifinal will see two CWPA Northern Division schools do battle, as the top-seeded Brown Bears will take on the fifth-seeded St. Francis Terriers at 4:30 p.m.