BRONX, N.Y. – The Navy water polo team (15-14) concluded the 2018 campaign with a 7-6 loss to rival Johns Hopkins (9-19) in the fifth-place game of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship at Col. Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center on the campus of Fordham University in the Bronx, N.Y.
 
"This was a tough way to end the season," head coach Luis Nicolao said after the game. "That being said, this year was about having fun. When I came in, I wanted the team to play hard and the emphasis was to have fun and enjoy playing water polo again. I think this team did that. The future is bright for this team and, despite the loss today, I see big things happening for this program in the future."
 
The Midshipmen played well defensively, limiting the Blue Jays to seven goals in the game. Senior Francis Kim (Houston, Texas) earned the start in his final collegiate competition. He recorded 13 saves in the game, including five in the fourth quarter and four in the opening quarter.
 
Offensively, the Mids struggled to get into a rhythm, finishing the game with 20 missed shots in the game. Trevor Clark (San Marcos, Calif.) paced the team with three goals for a hat trick, while Jake Haines (Ashburn, Va.), Cole Jacobs (Naperville, Ill.), and Kevin Volkov (Freehold, N.J.) each added goals.
 
Navy trailed 2-0 before Clark put the Midshipmen on the scoreboard with a goal with 34 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Clark knotted the game at 2-2 with a score early in the second quarter. Following a Blue Jay goal, Jacobs evened the contest at 3-3 with a goal to send the game into halftime.
 
Johns Hopkins opened the second half with back-to-back goals before Volkov halted the mini-run with a goal to keep the score, 5-4. Following a Hopkins goal, Haines found the back of the net to send the game into the final period with Navy down 6-5. Clark completed the hat trick in the fourth quarter, tying the score at 6-6 with 3:22 remaining in the game. The Blue Jays answered one minute later to take a 7-6 advantage. The Midshipmen were unable to net the equalizer in the final two minutes, dropping the one-goal decision.
 
Navy finished the season 15-14 overall, marking the first winning season for the Midshipmen since 2015. The Mids tied for fourth in the MAWPC-East with a 6-6 mark under first-year head coach Nicolao. The team won two major awards as Nicolao was named Coach of the Year and Isaac Salinas (Spring City, Pa.) was tabbed Rookie of the Year. The Mids tallied three all-conference performers as Bobby Lee (Santa Ana, Calif.) earned first-team accolades and Salinas and Andrew Shashin (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) took home second-team honors.