ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy water polo team completed its regular season on Saturday with a home doubleheader against Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference foes Johns Hopkins and George Washington at Scott Natatorium. In a pair of tight, hard-fought games the Midshipmen (7-16, 2-8 MAWPC) defeated the Blue Jays (4-15, 4-4 MAWPC) by a score of 14-13 before dropping the nightcap versus the Colonials (13-10, 8-2 MAWPC), 13-9.

David Huber (Sr., Fort Washington, Pa.), Matt Skowronski (Jr., Oak Hill, Va.) and Taylor Peterson (Sr., Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) led Navy's offensive attack on Saturday with 17 combined points. Both Huber (5g, 1a) and Skowronski (5g, 1a) recorded six points each, while Peterson tallied five points (4g, 1a).

In goal, Ronan Williams (Fr., Severna Park, Md.) made 21 saves, including 14 against Johns Hopkins in the opener. 14 saves tie a season-high mark that Williams recorded twice before Saturday.

Navy 14 - Johns Hopkins 13

In a tight back-and-forth game, Navy put an end to its month-long losing streak with an exciting 14-13 victory over Johns Hopkins. Looking for redemption following a 14-8 loss to the Blue Jays in Baltimore in late September, the Mids came out and put together a complete team effort with all facets of its game working at a high level.

"This is the team and performance that I've been waiting to see from this team all season," remarked head coach Mladen Stanicic. "We executed a crisp style of play and took advantage of our man-up and five-meter penalty situations. We also got strong defensive efforts to earn us this victory."

Saturday's contest saw offense come in ebbs and flows. In the first quarter, the teams combined for nine goals, while the middle two periods saw the teams notch 10 total markers over 16 minutes. The game opened up in the fourth with eight goals, including five for the Mids.

In the first period, Navy jumped out to a 3-1 lead by the 3:24 mark of play as Patrick Carmody (Sr., Fogelsville, Pa.), Peterson and Jared Castillo (Jr., League City, Texas) all had goals. The trio of goal scorers all benefited from a quick, clean perimeter passing attack as Brendan Metcalf (Sr., Frisco, Texas), Taylor Bernhardt (So., Annapolis, Md.) and J.B. Lee (Jr., Newport Coast, Calif.) all were credited with assists. After Johns Hopkins scored at 2:49 to tighten the game to a 3-2 score, Skowronski recorded the first of his two five-meter penalty shot goals in the game at 1:58. A second Castillo goal in the period expanded the Midshipmen lead out to three at 5-2 before two Blue Jay scores in the final 68 seconds made it 5-4.

In the second quarter, an early power play goal by Peterson via a Huber pass put Navy up two, 6-4. A five-minute scoreless streak saw the Mids' lead fade away and turn into a 6-6 tie. Over a 16-second span of play, the teams traded goals as Jack Robinson (Jr., Riverside, Conn.) notched a power play score before Hopkins tied it up on the ensuing possession at 1:23. The visitors took their first lead of the day 21 seconds later to go up 8-7.

Coming out of halftime down one, the Mids fell behind further on a Blue Jay goal at 6:52 to trail 9-7. Back-to-back goals by Skowronski and Huber at 6:35 and 5:59 pulled Navy even for the game's fourth tie. A late marker by Hopkins' Matt Fraser sent the game into the fourth quarter at a 10-9 score in favor of the Blue Jays.

After a quiet first two minutes of play in the fourth stanza, the switch to Navy's offense was flipped with four goals in a 2:26 span of action. Skowronski capped his third hat trick of the season when he ripped a long-range shot over the outstretched arms of Hopkins' goalkeeper at 5:43. Alex Piecuch (Fr., Ladera Ranch, Calif.) netted the Mids' second goal at 5:14 as he took a skip pass from Jack Orchard (Sr., Orlando, Fla.) from the right side of the pool over to the left where he found himself open for the goal. Another series of crisp passing deep in the zone set up the next goal as Tyler Zimmerman (Jr., McLean, Va.) flicked a one-timer shot after Shepherd Warren (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) lofted a pass over the top of the central defender. The fourth goal of this run that put Navy up 13-12 was a tally by Huber at 3:17. Nine seconds after his goal put the Mids ahead by one, the Blue Jays shot right back and knotted the game at 13-13. A minute and a half passed by before Peterson answered the call with the game-winning goal coming out of a timeout on the man-up at 1:37. Two strong defensive stands by Navy sealed the victory for the host squad.

George Washington 13 - Navy

Looking to carry over the momentum of a strong outing in the afternoon, Navy had its hands full with a George Washington squad that came into the weekend tied for first place in the MAWPC. The Mids were up the challenge over the first three quarters as they had the game tied five different times with the latest being at 8-8. A strong close the game by the Colonials in the fourth quarter was the difference as the visitors outscored the Mids, 5-1 in the period.

The first quarter went the way of George Washington as the Colonials jumped out to a 3-1 lead over the opening eight minutes. Peterson netted the lone goal for the Mids as he flicked a lob pass by Castillo into the top corner of the net away from the goalkeeper at 4:12.

Down two goals, Navy immediate got back into the contest within the opening 1:08 of the second quarter as a five-meter penalty shot conversion by Skowronski and a breakaway goal by Huber knotted the game up. A three-goal run by George Washington helped the Colonials briefly open up scoreboard before a late marker by Gabe Gaspar (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) made it 6-4 at the half.

A strong defensive showing by the Mids in the third quarter held their high-scoring opponents in check with just two goals allowed. As a rebuttal, Navy's offense found the back of the net four different times in the period. Zimmerman and Huber initially tied the matchup at 6-6 with back-to-back goals at 6:54 and 6:08. Down 7-6, Williams found Robinson on a breakaway outlet pass from his goalkeeper position for Navy's seventh goal of the game at 1:16. The back-and-forth action continued in the final minute as George Washington went up 8-7 before another five-meter conversion by Skowronski tied it at 8-8.

In the fourth quarter, the Colonials finally found an opening and pulled away from the Mids with five goals. Huber was the lone goal scorer for Navy as he scored to make a 12-8 game, 12-9 at 1:51. An insurance marker was added by George Washington to finish the contest at 13-9.

"This was a real competitive, that could have gone either way and I think the first three quarters especially showed that," said Stanicic. "In the fourth quarter, G.W. took advantage of its opportunities and stopped us when it needed to, that was the difference.

"I was really proud of the effort and energy we showed all day against two very quality opponents. It's now time for us to turn our attention to the conference tournament in two weeks."

The Mids will next be in action on Friday, Nov. 18 with first round play at the inaugural Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Championship. The three-day event will see eight teams battle at Bucknell's Kinney Natatorium for the right to represent the conference in December's NCAA Championship.