PRINCETON, N.J. - The Navy water polo team played a pair of games on Saturday in the second day of competition at the CWPA Southern Championship and came away with a 1-1 record. After defeating the 11^th-ranked Lions of Penn State Behrend, 21-4, the second-ranked Mids fell in the tournament semifinals to Bucknell, the number three seed, by a score of 14-13.

The Mids' day began with a pool-play matchup against the 11^th-seeded Lions. Navy overmatched PSU Behrend for the entirety of the game as it jumped out to a 9-0 lead over the first 10:49 of play over the first and second quarters. At one point between the 3:33 and 1:31 marks of the first period, the Mids scored five goals on five straight possessions. On the strength of his two goals, David Huber (So., Fort Washington, Pa.) led a well-balanced attack that saw eight different players score during the 9-0 run.

After the Lions answered at 4:55 in the second quarter to make it 9-1, the Mids closed out the first half with three straight goals. J.B. Lee (Fr., Newport Coast, Calif.), Jack Robinson (Fr., Riverside, Conn.) and Huber scored for Navy down the stretch as the game went into the break with the score 12-1 in favor of the Mids.

Navy continued to control PSU Behrend in the second half as it outscored the 11-seed by a count of 9-3 in the final 16 minutes. Highlighted by two goals from Jared Castillo (Fr., League City, Texas), the Mids netted seven scores in the third quarter before recording two in the fourth. Eight different Mids scored in the second half. Goalie Vikram Kanth (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) turned aside a game-high three shots in the fourth quarter.

After going 2-0 in pool play, Navy advanced to winner's bracket action in the afternoon against Bucknell, the winner of the `C' bracket. With the season series tied at one game each, Saturday's semifinal carried on that storyline as the teams traded goals over the opening three minutes. Thomas Patterson (Sr., Orange, Calif.) recorded the first goal for the Mids. With the score tied 1-1, Navy netted back-to-back scores at 5:01 and 4:37 to jump ahead 3-1. Carl Dowzicky (Jr., Collegeville, Pa.) and Thomas Allen (Jr., Fresno, Calif.) provided the offense for the Mids. A trading of goals down the stretch in the first quarter made it a 4-2 game at the first break.

The Bison opened the second period on a mission and found the back of the net twice quickly to tie the game at 4-4 by the 5:48 mark. A five-meter conversion and a breakaway goal by Carpenter Warren (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) on consecutive possessions helped Navy take back the lead by two. With the score 6-4, Bucknell responded with a 4-1 run to close out the first half and take an 8-7 lead into the intermission.

In the opening 50 seconds of the third quarter, three goals were scored in quick succession as Bucknell extended its advantage out to 10-8. Will Weggeland (Jr., Riverside, Calif.) scored Navy's lone goal. The 40-second span between 5:21 and 4:41 saw the teams go back-and-forth with two goals for the Mids and one for the Bison. Warren scored both markers for Navy during this stretch. A Robert Sutherland (Jr., Denton, Texas) goal at 2:50 tied the game at 11-11. Two scores in the final 1:32 saw the game go into the fourth tied, 12-12.

Bucknell took the lead with a Grant Curry goal at 5:01 to make it 13-12. Warren answered 2:22 later as he beat the Bison goalkeeper with a near shot into the upper left corner. With 1:27 showing on the clock, Bucknell used a Jeff Hagen goal to take the lead, 14-13, a margin that would stand up over the final 87 seconds of regulation.

For the game, Warren, Patterson and Allen all registered multiple goals for the Mids. Warren notched five tallies, while Patterson had three and Allen two.

"What a tough loss!" exclaimed head coach Mladen Stanicic. "It must have been a fun game for spectators. It was close all along and that's how it stayed throughout. We have nothing to be ashamed of, but some small mental errors that were costly. Bucknell played a very good game and particularly its outside shot was effective. On our side, Robert Sutherland had a great game that won't necessarily show up in the box score."

"We will see Johns Hopkins tomorrow and it will be another hard fight," said Stanicic. "They regrouped and are playing impressive water polo here."

With the loss, Navy will play in the third place game on Sunday against the fourth-seed, John Hopkins. The Mids and Blue Jays will face off at 1 p.m. with seeding in the upcoming CWPA Championship on the line.