LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Navy water polo team (15-12) posted a 16-12 victory over Wagner (6-23) on Friday evening to advance to the semifinals of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Tournament. It is first time that the Midshipmen have competed in the semifinals of the conference tournament since 2014.
 
"It is always great to win at the conference tournament," head coach Luis Nicolao said after the game. "Once again, Wagner played us extremely tough. They fought hard, but fortunately, we were able to push through, score some big goals and come away with a victory. We have a big challenge tomorrow against the top seed, but we are going to play hard, play our game, and see what happens. I couldn't be prouder of these guys today."
 
The Midshipmen shared the wealth offensively as nine different players registered goals in the game, including five players who scored multiple goals. The Mids tallied 11 assists on their 16 goals for 27 points in the game.
 
First Team All-MAWPC selection Isaac Salinas (Spring City, Pa.) and freshman Jake Altmayer (Pasadena, Calif.) led the way with six points apiece. Salinas netted a team-high four goals and added a pair of assists, while Altmayer paced the offense with four helpers and chipping in a pair of goals. Will Clark (Laguna Beach, Calif.), Cole Jacobs (Naperville, Ill.), and Nate Reiff (Wheeling, Ill.) each added two goals.
 
For Salinas, the six points gave the sophomore 98 for the season, which is the most by a Midshipmen since Carl Dowzicky led the team with 94 points (64g 30a) as a senior in 2015. Salinas is two points shy of becoming the first Mid to record 100 or more points since Paul Pedrotty notched 137 points (91g 46a) in 2012.
 
Defensively, Max Sandberg (Newport Beach, Calif.) earned the victory. The sophomore surrendered 12 goals, while recording 10 saves. For the year, Sandberg has a team-high 141 stops. Sandberg also registered two of Navy's five steals in the game.
 
Wagner was led by Olivér Fodor, who scored six of the Seahawks' 12 goals. He was joined by Lachlan Trabinger, who chipped in three goals for the hat trick. At goal, Ethan Zirh made six saves in the loss.
 
Wagner was the first team to score, but Navy countered with Salinas' first goal of the game. The Seahawks rattled off back-to-back goals to take a 3-1 advantage, but W. Clark chipped into the lead with his first goal of the game.
 
In the second quarter, Salinas knotted the game at 3-3, and then gave the Mids their first lead of the night to complete the hat trick. Wagner tied the game at four, but three straight scores by Navy gave the designated home team a 7-4 advantage. Altmayer, Jacobs, and W. Clark each scored on the run. The Seahawks cut the lead to 7-6 with a pair of scores, but Merle Richman (La Jolla, Calif.) fired a strike from 11-meters out as time expired to send the game into halftime with Navy in front 8-6.
 
The third quarter started with Wagner cutting the Navy lead in half. The Midshipmen responded with a 3-0 run to take their largest lead of the game, 11-7. Bobby Lee (Santa Ana, Calif.) opened the run with a goal, while Jacobs followed with his second score of the game. Kevin Volkov (Freehold, N.J.) put Navy up four with a goal. The Seahawks answered with a 3-0 run of their own to trim the margin to 11-10. Jack Weggeland (Riverside, Calif.) extended the edge back to two goals as the sophomore grabbed a rebound off a missed shot and fired it past the goalie. Reiff scored the first of his two goals to push the margin to three. Following a Wagner goal, Salinas netted his fourth goal of the game to put Navy in front 14-11 through three quarters.
 
Defense was key for the Midshipmen in the fourth quarter. After two and a half minutes of scoreless water polo, Reiff gave Navy a four-goal advantage with his second goal of the game. The Seahawks quickly scored to close the gap to 15-12 with just over five minutes to play, but the Mids were able to run the clock with long possessions. The Midshipmen added an insurance goal by Altmayer with 84 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach, 16-12.
 
Navy continues play in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Tournament in the semifinals against top-seeded and nationally-ranked Bucknell (20-8) on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 4:30 p.m. at Kinney Natatorium.
 
No. 13 Bucknell, who finished as the MAWPC Tournament runner-up last season, advanced to the semifinals with a 13-10 victory over La Salle. The last time Navy was in the semifinals of the conference tournament, the Mids dropped a 6-3 decision to Princeton, who was coached by current Navy head coach Luis Nicolao.
 
Live video ($) will be available for the game. For in-game updates, please follow @NavyWaterPolo on Twitter.

MAWPC Tournament Schedule
Friday, November 22
Game 1 – (1) Bucknell 13, (8) La Salle 10
Game 2 – (4) Navy 16, (5) Wagner 12
Game 3 – (2) Fordham 16, (7) Gannon 11
Game 4 – (3) George Washington 17, (6) Johns Hopkins 9
 
Saturday, November 23
Game 5 – 1:30 p.m. – (5) Wagner vs. (8) La Salle
Game 6 – 3:00 p.m. – (6) Johns Hopkins vs. (7) Gannon
Game 7 – 4:30 p.m. – (1) Bucknell vs. (4) Navy
Game 8 – 6:00 p.m. – (2) Fordham vs. (3) George Washington
 
Sunday, November 24
7th Place Game – 9:00 a.m. – Loser Game 6 vs. Loser Game 5
5th Place Game – 10:30 a.m. – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6
3rd Place Game – 12:00 p.m. – Loser Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7
Championship Game – 1:30 p.m. – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8