LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Navy water polo team (14-12, 6-6 MAWPC-East) concluded the regular season with a 14-10 loss on the road to No. 14 Bucknell (18-7, 9-1) on Sunday at the Kinney Natatorium in Lewisburg, Pa. The Midshipmen trailed by as many as nine goals on four separate occasions, but were able to mount a second-half comeback to close the gap to four.
 
"Today was tough," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "Bucknell is a talented team and they proved that today. We were not able to do anything early on. In the second half, we were able to run some of our set plays and score some goals to make the game close. We have a weekend off from competition and then we go come back here for the conference tournament."
 
Offensively, seven Mids combined to score 10 goals. Nate Reiff (Wheeling, Ill.) paced the team with his first hat trick of the season (eighth of career), netting all three goals in the second half. Andrew Shashin (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) added a pair of goals.
 
Defensively, Navy used a trio of goalies in the game. Senior captain Ronan Williams (Severna Park, Md.) earned the start, tallying seven stops in the game. Brandon Shields (Lake Forest, Calif.) added a pair of stops with no goals allowed in relief of Williams. Jonas Greer (Los Angeles, Calif.) made his collegiate debut, recording a save with no goals allowed.
 
In the first half, it was almost all Bucknell. The home team raced out to a 5-0 lead before Shashin found the back of the net for the Midshipmen. The Bison added two more goals before Will Clark (Laguna Beach, Calif.) gave the Mids their second score. Bucknell closed out the half with an 8-2 advantage.
 
In the second half, the Bison added three quick goals to push the advantage to nine, 11-2. Navy and Bucknell traded goals as Zach Luci (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), Shashin, and Reiff each scored. Trailing 14-5, the Midshipmen mounted a comeback attempt. The Mids scored five straight goals to close out the game, but came up short against the nationally-ranked foe. Bobby Lee (Santa Ana, Calif.) started the run with his sixth goal of the weekend. Reiff followed with back-to-back scores to complete the hat trick. Freshmen Tiernan Brunner (Timonium, Md.) and Sean Douglas McDonough (Clovis, Calif.) closed out the run with goals.
 
The Mids have a bye this week before competition in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Tournament. The tournament is set for Friday-Sunday, Nov. 22-24 in Lewisburg, Pa. Times and opponents are still yet to be determined.