WHITTIER & MALIBU, Calif. - Faced with the tough task of taking on four ranked teams in a three-day period and overcoming injuries to a litany of its leading players, the Navy water polo team fought hard, but came out on the short end of its first three matches on Friday night and Saturday in Southern California. In consecutive contests the No. 16 Mids fell to No. 20 Whittier College, 14-12, No. 14 Air Force, 17-11 and No. 9 Pepperdine, 14-9.

#20 Whittier 14 - #16 Navy 12

In a matchup late Friday night, the Mids and Poets went toe-to-toe in a contest with major momentum swings. The first quarter saw both teams find the back of the net with regularity as 11 total goals were scored over the opening eight minutes. After Carl Dowzicky (Sr., Collegeville, Pa.) and Jared Castillo (So., League City, Texas) scored to tie up the game twice at 1-1 and 2-2, back-to-back goals by David Huber (Jr., Fort Washington, Pa.) gave Navy its first lead of the game. A three-goal run by Whittier quickly turned the game back in the hosts' favor at 5-4. Steven Emde (Sr., Ballwin, Mo.) scored to tie the game once again at 5-5 before a late Poet goal closed the period at 6-5.

After an 11-goal outburst in the first quarter, the offense combined for eight scores in the second stanza. Unfortunately for the visiting Mids, the first four goals of the period were scored by the Poets and turned a one-goal game into a five-goal contest. Down 10-5, Navy tallied two of the last four markers in the quarter to make it 12-7 at half. Castillo and Emde each scored for the Mids down the stretch.

After the intermission, both offenses were held in check as Navy crept back into the game with a 2-1 advantage in the third quarter. Matt Skowronski (So., Oak Hill, Va.) and Thomas Allen (Sr., Fresno, Calif.) scored for the Mids as they attempted to rally back.

The momentum from the third quarter carried over into the fourth as Navy cut a four-goal deficit of 13-9 at the beginning of the period down to two at 13-11 just 3:15 in as Allen and Huber scored. After a Whittier goal at 3:33 made it 14-11, the Mids had one last push though only had a Huber marker at 2:55 to show for it in the final score. The goal gave Huber his sixth straight hat trick of the season.

In the 14-12 setback, Garrett Sabesky (Sr., Lakeside, Calif.) and Beau Bayless (Sr., Carmel, Calif.) split time in goal. Sabesky led the duo with 10 saves and seven goals against.

#14 Air Force 17 - #16 Navy 11

The first game for Navy on Saturday saw the Mids take on their rivals from Air Force in a neutral site game in Pepperdine's pool in Malibu. In the first regular season matchup between the service academies since 2009, a dominant first quarter by the Falcons set the tone. After Huber got Navy on the scoreboard first at 7:17, it was all Air Force to close the frame as the Falcons scored four unanswered goals.

Navy's offense hit its stride in the second quarter as Mids scored five goals, but Air Force was able to respond with seven markers of its own to make it an 11-6 game at halftime. Dowzicky led a quartet of Navy scorers with a pair of goals. Emde, Skowronski and Robert Sutherland (Sr., Denton, Texas) all netted single scores.

Play was fairly even in the second half as Air Force won the second 16 minutes by a 6-5 margin to send the game final at 17-11. Sutherland and Castillo scored for the Mids in the third quarter before Castillo, Huber and Emde found the back of the net in the fourth period.

The duo of Bayless and Sabesky combined to make 14 saves in goal for Navy in shared action. Bayless turned aside 10 Air Force shots, while Sabesky recorded four.

#9 Pepperdine 14 - #16 Navy 9

In the final game of a challenging 24-hour period of top-flight water polo action for the Mids, a matchup with the ninth-ranked Waves of Pepperdine was on tap Saturday afternoon. A 10-4 goal advantage during the second and third periods was the difference in a game that was close and competitive otherwise.

In the first quarter, an early 2-0 Pepperdine lead was evened out at 3-3 by the 1:45 mark of the period. A goal by Tyler Zimmerman (So., McLean, Va.) and two by Huber helped Navy fight back from the early deficit. A late goal by the Waves ended the quarter at 4-3 in favor of the hosts.

After an exchanging of goals left the score at 5-4 at 5:46, a 5-1 run by Pepperdine broke open the game before halftime. Huber and Dowzicky tallied markers for the Mids in the second quarter.

With the score 10-5 coming out of the break, the Waves added two more goals to its advantage in the third period by outscoring the Mids, 4-2. Richard Thomas (Sr., Long Beach, Calif.) and Dowzicky scored for Navy in the quarter.

The Mids kept the Waves off the scoreboard in the fourth period and closed the game to its final margin of 14-9. Zimmerman and Evan Staresinic (Jr., Bradford Woods, Pa.) registered goals in the fourth.

"This is clearly not the way we would have liked to start the trip," remarked head coach Mladen Stanicic. "In addition to unfavorable scores, we sustained yet another injury in the form of Robert Sutherland. We knew that the opponents would be tough, but our own lapses have cost us the most. However the losses, we have shown positive trends particularly in the Pepperdine game. Hopefully this is a trend to be continued."

Navy will close out its California trip with a 1 p.m. (ET) showdown at No. 6 UC Santa Barbara on Sunday.