BALTIMORE, Md. – The Navy water polo team (12-6, 4-0 MAWPC-East) notched a 15-13 victory over Johns Hopkins (5-14, 1-4) at the Newton White Athletic Center Natatorium in Baltimore. With the win, the Midshipmen improved to 4-0 in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference-East.
"Tonight was a tough game," head coach
Luis Nicolao said. "This is a tough place to play with the shallow-deep pool. I am proud of the way our guys persevered. Defensively, Ronan (Williams) came up big in the first half with some key saves, while Max (Sandberg) came up clutch in the second half for us. Offensively, we got a lead and were able to slow down the game, run the clock down, and come away with a win. I am proud of this team."
Defensively, Navy tallied 14 saves in the game. Senior captain
Ronan Williams (Severna Park, Md.) earned the start, working the first half. Williams recorded seven saves, while being charged with seven goals.
Max Sandberg (Newport Beach, Calif.) entered the game for the second half. The sophomore also notched seven stops with six goals allowed. Sandberg added a pair of assists and a steal in the game.
Offensively, eight different players recorded goals in the game, including four players who finished with multiple goals.
Isaac Salinas (Spring City, Pa.) led the team with five goals, while
Jake Altmayer (Pasadena, Calif.),
Nate Reiff (Wheeling, Ill.), and
Merle Richman (La Jolla, Calif.) added two goals apiece. Altmayer finished the game with five points as the freshman added a team-high three assists.
In the first half, the two teams battled even, trading goals. Neither team led by more than two goals in the first half.
Johns Hopkins took a 1-0 lead, but Salinas quickly answered with his first goal of the game. The Blue Jays regained the advantage, but
Andrew Shashin (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) responded to knot the score at 2-2. Navy took its first lead of the night as Salinas and Reiff scored back-to-back goals to put the visitors in front 4-2. The home team tied the score with a pair of goals in the final 80 seconds of the first half.
The Midshipmen used goals by
Will Clark (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and
Bobby Lee (Santa Ana, Calif.) to quickly take a 6-4 advantage in the second quarter. JHU scored to cut the margin in half, but Altmayer answered to extend the lead back to two. Hopkins used back-to-back goals in a 30-second span to tie the score at 7-7 heading into halftime.
In the third quarter, Navy took its largest lead of the night with three consecutive goals. Salinas started the second-half scoring with his third goal of the game. Reiff followed with his second score of the game before Salinas closed out the mini run with his second goal of the quarter. Leading 10-7, the Mids saw the Blue Jays battle back with back-to-back scores to cut the margin to one.
Trevor Clark (San Marcos, Calif.) pushed the advantage back to two goals with a score with 33 ticks remaining in the quarter.
The Midshipmen extended the advantage back to three goals as Richman found the back of the net for his first goal of the game. Hopkins continued to battle, cutting the Navy advantage back to one with a pair of goals. Richman fired a strike to give the Mids a two-goal edge, but JHU answered. Navy used goals by Salinas and Altmayer to regain a three-goal advantage with 66 seconds remaining. The Midshipmen surrendered a goal with 12 ticks remaining, but were able to run out the clock and secure the victory.
Navy returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 12, as the Midshipmen welcome La Salle (5-12, 0-7) and No. 15 Bucknell (9-2, 2-1) to Annapolis for a pair of MAWPC-East games. The Mids and Explorers is slated for 12:00 p.m., while Navy takes on the Bison at 6:00 p.m.
