LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Navy water polo team had a tough beginning to its action at Bucknell's Bison Invitational on Saturday with a pair of losses. The Mids dropped the first game of the day to No. 14 Brown, 16-8 before dropping a 12-11 contest to the University of Toronto in the evening.

#14 Brown 16 - Navy 8

Navy fell victim to a fast start by Brown as the Bears jumped out to a 4-0 lead over the first quarter of play. After Brown expanded its advantage out to five goals at the 7:35 mark of the second period, Jared Castillo (Jr., League City, Texas) got Navy on the scoreboard on the next possession of the game at 7:08. Brown's offense kept up the fast scoring pace as the Bears were able to deposit five more goals in the second quarter, while the Mids only tallied one, a Jack Orchard (Sr., Orlando, Fla.) goal.

Down 10-2 coming out of halftime, Navy was never really able to gain too much traction versus the Northeast Water Polo Conference foe as each team recorded six goals. The Mids outscored the Bears in the third quarter, four goals to three as Taylor Bernhardt (So., Annapolis, Md.), Shepherd Warren (Jr., Baltimore, Md.), Ian Bagent (Jr., Norcross, Ga.) and Castillo all found the back of the net versus Browns' goalkeeper.

Matt Skowronski (Jr., Oak Hill, Va.) and Castillo netted Navy's final two goals in the contest in the fourth quarter.

In goal, Ronan Williams (Fr., Severna Park, Md.) and Brandon Shields (Fr., Lake Forest, Calif.) split time with Williams making six saves over the first three quarters and Shields one in the fourth.

"Brown played a great game and we were just three of 12 on the power play. The outcome will hardly ever be better with that kind of ratio." remarked head coach Mladen Stanicic.

Toronto 12 - Navy 11

The Mids second game of the day was hard fought and tight throughout as the teams never ended a quarter separated by more than one goal. A 4-2 score over the final quarter of play by the Blues was enough to secure the victory for the Canadian squad.

The game was close through the first quarter as both teams notched three goals before Toronto took a 7-6 lead into halftime. In the third period Navy outscored its opposition with a 3-1 goal advantage to go up 9-8 going into the final quarter.

Castillo was once again the high scorer for the Mids as he found the back of the net four times versus the Blues. Skowronski also netted a hat trick as he scored three goals. The quarter of J.B. Lee (Jr., Newport Coast, Calif.), Patrick Carmody (Sr., Fogelsville, Pa.), David Huber (Sr., Fort Washington, Pa.) and Brendan Metcalf (Sr., Frisco, Texas) all netted single markers.

In goal, Williams played the entire game and made five saves.

"We had some uninspired play versus Toronto," said Stanicic. "We were too relaxed at first and then too anxious later in the game."

Navy will be back in action on Sunday with two more games at the Bison Invitational. First up will be an 8 a.m. matchup versus Harvard before a 6 p.m. contest with Washington & Jefferson will conclude play.