ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy water polo team (12-8, 4-2 MAWPC) travels to Washington, D.C. for a Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference matchup with No. 20 George Washington (15-5, 5-2), returning to action after a bye week. The game is slated for Friday, Oct. 19 at 7:00 p.m. at the Charles E. Smith Center Pool. The game will be live streamed on Facebook.
 
The Series
Navy leads the all-time series with George Washington, 52-8, but have dropped five consecutive games to the Colonials. Last season, the two teams met in the pool three times with GW claiming victories in all three games. The last victory by the Midshipmen came in the 2015 CWPA South Division Tournament as Navy notched an 11-7 win over the Colonials in Lewisburg, Pa. The last win for Navy over George Washington in D.C. came on Oct. 7, 2015 when the Mids claimed a 18-14 victory.
 
Players to Watch
Freshman Isaac Salinas (Spring City, Pa.) and sophomore Bobby Lee (Santa Ana, Calif.) have emerged as offensive leaders for the Midshipmen. Salinas leads the team with 57 total points, netting 35 goals with a team-best 22 assists. His 35 goals are behind only Lee, who leads the team with 46 goals and is second on the squad with 53 total points. Defensively, Andrew Shashin (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) leads the team with 47 ejections drawn and Jake Haines (Ashburn, Va.) paces the team with 18 steals. Ronan Williams (Severna Park, Md.) has played in 17 out of 20 games at goalie, notching a team-high 147 saves.
 
Last Time Out
Navy came up a little short against No. 19 Loyola Marymount, dropping a 12-10 decision at the Burns Aquatic Center in Los Angeles, Calif. The Midshipmen led 6-3 at halftime, but a seven-goal third quarter by Lions gave the home team a lead they would not relinquish.
 
Andrew Shashin (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) and Nate Reiff (Wheeling, Ill.) led the way for the Midshipmen with three and two goals, respectively. Reiff added a team-high three assists to pace the squad with five points in the game.
 
Cole Jacobs (Naperville, Ill.) opened the scoring with a quick-strike to put Navy up 1-0. After LMU scored the equalizer, Shashin found the back of the net off of a Reiff pass. The duo connected once again in the first quarter as Shashin netted his second goal off Reiff's second helper. In the second quarter, Loyola Marymount trimmed the margin to 3-2, but Reiff slipped the ball past the goalie for his first goal of the game to extend the advantage back to two. Kevin Volkov (Freehold, N.J.) gave the Midshipmen a three-goal advantage with an unassisted goal. Following a Lion goal, Shashin registered a hat trick with his third goal to put Navy up 6-3.
 
LMU was the first team to score in the second half, but Bobby Lee (Santa Ana, Calif.) responded with a goal to give Navy a 7-4 advantage. Loyola Marymount used back-to-back goals to trim the deficit to one, but Reiff found the back of the net to push the margin back to a pair. The Lions tied the game with a pair of goals, but Trevor Clark (San Marcos, Calif.) gave the Midshipmen back the lead with 2:21 to play in the third quarter. LMU's Blazo Mitrovic, who finished with a game-high six goals, scored the equalizer with under two minutes remaining in the third. Mitrovic gave the home team its first lead of the day, 10-9, with five ticks remaining on the third quarter clock. Mitrovic netted the next two goals to put Loyola Marymount up 12-9 with just over four minutes to play. Jake Haines (Ashburn, Va.) scored off of a Volkov assist to trim the margin to two. The Midshipmen were able to fire off three shots in the final two minutes, but were unable to break the plane, dropping the 12-10 decision.
 
Last Time vs. George Washington (L, 16-14 – Oct. 21, 2017)
Navy opened a doubleheader in the nation's capital taking on George Washington for the third time this season. The Mids were edged by the Colonials, 16-14, despite a tremendous effort.
 
GW went ahead 2-0 in the first minute of the game, but senior captain Matt Skowronski (Oak Hill, Va.) cut the deficit in half with a goal with 6:45 to play in the first quarter. The Colonials netted two goals to push the lead to 4-1 before William Lowdon (Hillsborough, Calif.) cut the margin in half with his first goal of the game. Jared Castillo (League City, Texas) found the back of the net to trim the margin to 4-3 with 3:05 to play in the quarter. Jacob Paiva (Roseville, Calif.) evened the score at 4-4 just 40 second later. George Washington regained the lead with a goal, but a strike by J.B. Lee (Newport Coast, Calif.) tied the game with five ticks left on the clock in the first period.
 
In the second quarter, Bobby Lee (Santa Ana, Calif.) started things off with his first goal to give Navy its first lead of the day. GW knotted the game at 6-6, but back-to-back goals by Nate Reiff (Wheeling, Ill.) and Ian Bagent (Norcross, Ga.) gave the visitors an 8-6 edge. Following a Colonial goal, Nik Galvan (Henderson, Nev.) sent the Midshipmen into halftime with a 9-7 lead.
 
George Washington opened the third quarter with a goal, but Navy responded with a goal by Reiff to regain a two-goal advantage. Lowdon gave the Mids a three-goal lead with his second goal of the game, and Andrew Shashin (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) extended the advantage to 12-8 with 3:49 to play in the quarter. GW used a 4-0 run to close out the final three minutes of the quarter to send the game into the fourth knotted at 12-12.
 
The Colonials continued their run, netting four straight goals in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to go ahead 16-12. Over the final three minutes of play, the Mids fought back using a goal by Galvan to stop the home team's run. Reiff closed the margin to two, 16-14, with a goal with 1:40 to play. Navy was unable to generate any more goals, falling by two.