LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Navy water polo team (12-8) came up a little short against No. 19 Loyola Marymount (6-6), dropping a 12-10 decision on Sunday afternoon 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.
 
"Today was a tough game against a tough opponent," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "We had a lead in the second half, but were not able to put them away. Against a team of this caliber, you have to capitalize on your opportunities, and we weren't able to do that today. I am happy with the fight that this team has. They played hard all five games this weekend against some quality opponents."
 
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 uner 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.
 
Navy returns to action on Friday, Oct. 19 as the Midshipmen travel to Washington, D.C. to take on George Washington in a Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference match up. The game is slated for 7:00 p.m. at the Charles E. Smith Center.