LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Navy water polo team (5-3) posted a pair of victories at the 2018 Bison Invitational hosted by Bucknell at Kinney Natatorium in Lewisburg, Pa. The Mids posted a 16-6 victory over La Salle (1-8) before notching a 19-11 win over Salem (2-6) in the nightcap.
 
"Today was a really good day for us," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "We picked up a victory against a league foe in La Salle, who we will have to play twice during the conference season. In addition, we were able to get a lot of people in the pool. The more game-action we can get for our younger players, the better this team will be down the road."
 
Navy posted a pair of solid performances to sweep the day. Nate Reiff (Wheeling, Ill.) finished the day with 10 points, netting six goals on a pair of hat tricks to go along with four assists. Bobby Lee (Santa Ana, Calif.) notched seven points (6g 1a), while Isaac Salinas (Spring City, Pa. – 1g 4a), and Andrew Shashin (Buffalo Grove, Ill. – 5g) each added five points apiece.
 
At goal, Francis Kim (Houston, Texas) and Brandon Shields (Lake Forest, Calif.) combined for the victory against La Salle, while Shields and Ronan Williams (Severna Park, Md.) joined forces in the win against Salem. Kim notched seven saves with five goals allowed against the Explorers, while Shields finished the game allowing one goal with three stops. Shields started the second game, finishing with 10 saves and nine goals allowed. He gave way to Williams who had a pair of stops with two goals allowed.
 
Navy concludes play in the Bison Invitational on Sunday, Sept. 16, as the Midshipmen open Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference play with a game against Wagner (11:00 a.m.) before closing out the tournament with a game against Mercyhurst (2:15 p.m.).
 
Game 1 Recap – Navy 16, La Salle 6
Navy trailed 1-0 early in the game, but used a 4-0 run to take control of the game. Lee scored the first of his four goals to start the run. Jesse Hainze (Bellevue, Wash.) followed with his first goal of the year to close out the first quarter and put the Midshipmen in front 2-1. Reiff and Weggeland scored their first goals of the game to push the lead to 4-1. Following an Explorer goal, Lee responded with his second goal. La Salle closed the gap to 5-3, but Navy closed the half with a 4-1 run. On the run, Shashin led the way with a pair of goals, while Reiff and Kevin Volkov (Freehold, N.J.) also added scores.
 
In the second half, the Midshipmen used a 5-1 run in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. Reiff and Lee started the scoring with a goal apiece. The Explorers score, but Lee, Crawford Smith (Mechanicsburg, Pa.), and Volkov rattled off back-to-back-to-back goals to close out the quarter. La Salle opened the fourth quarter with a goal to make it 14-6, but Navy closed out the scoring with goals by Weggeland John Bernhardt (Annapolis, Md.).
 
Game 2 Recap – Navy 19, Salem 11
In the second game, the Midshipmen had 11 players score goals, including six notching multiple goals. Reiff and Shashin each posted hat tricks in the game, leading the scoring with three goals apiece.
 
Navy started the game with a 4-0 run to jump out to an early lead. Lee led the charge with two goals, while the freshmen duo of Salinas and Weggeland added scores. Salem fought back to tie the game at 4-4 after one quarter of play. The Mids outscored the Tigers, 5-2, in the second quarter to go into intermission ahead 9-6. Shashin, Trevor Clark (San Marcos, Calif.), and Jake Haines (Ashburn, Va.) started the second-quarter scoring. Salem answered with two goals, but Shashin and Smith responded to push the advantage back to three.
 
The second half saw the Tigers score the first two goals to trim the margin to just one, but Haines and Cole Jacobs (Naperville, Ill.) responded to extend the lead to 11-8. Salem ended the third with a goal, but Smith opened up scoring in the fourth with his second goal to give Navy a 12-9 advantage. After a Tiger goal, the Mids put the game out of reach with a 7-1 run to close out the game. The Midshipmen scored five straight thanks to three goals by Reiff and additional goals by Shashin and Weggeland. After Salem's final goal of the game, William Lowdon (Hillsborough, Calif.) and Jason Dompke (Huntington Beach, Calif.) provided the final margin of victory, 19-11.