LEWISBURG, Pa. – Sophomore Isaac Salinas (Spring City, Pa.) scored five goals, but the Navy water polo team (15-13) was edged 7-5 by No. 13 and top-seeded Bucknell (21-8) in the semifinals of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Tournament on Saturday at Kinney Natatorium in Lewisburg, Pa. With his five goals, Salinas eclipsed the 100-point plateau on the season, making him the first Mid to record 100 or more points since Paul Pedrotty notched 137 points (91g 46a) in 2012.
 
"Today was a great defensive struggle," head coach Luis Nicolao said after the game. "Both teams fought hard, and unfortunately, we came up just a little short. Offensively, Isaac came up big for us today like he has all season. For him to have over 100 points in a season is a great accomplishment. He is a competitor who plays hard and I am glad to see it recognized in the stats."
 
"I feel bad for the team because we played well enough to win, but we have to put this one behind us and get ready for a very good Fordham team tomorrow."
 
Offensively, Salinas paced the team with five points on five goals. For the year, Salinas has a team-high 88 goals with 15 assists for a team-best 103 total points. In the game, Cole Jacobs (Naperville, Ill.) and Jack Weggeland (Riverside, Calif.) were credited with one assist each.
 
Defensively, the Midshipmen held the potent Bison offense to its lowest offensive performance of the season, tying for a season-low seven goals Bucknell had in a loss (14-7) to No. 9 UC San Diego in September. Max Sandberg (Newport Beach, Calif.) finished the game with eight saves, while also producing four steals. Sandberg's steals prevented goals and helped keep the Bison out of the net. Seven addition Mids recorded steals in the, including Jacobs who finished with a pair. The Midshipmen tallied 12 total steals in the game.
 
Navy jumped on the scoreboard first as Salinas juked his defender and wailed in the icebreaker with 6:54 on the first quarter clock. Conference MVP Rade Joksimovic balanced the scoreboard 17 seconds later courtesy a five-meter penalty shot, but Salinas returned the led to the Mids at the 4:25 mark by burying his second strike of the opening frame.
 
Bucknell put away the equalizer with 6:43 to go in the second quarter to knot the squads at 2-2 prior to a goal pushing the Bison into the lead at 3-2 with a man-up strike at 2:38. Navy pulled even prior to the conclusion of the first half as Salinas completed a hat-trick with 33 seconds left to send the teams into the break deadlocked at 3-3.
 
Navy continued its momentum into the second half as Salinas put away shots at 7:11 and 5:42 to acquire a 5-3 lead. However, the Bison charged back into the contest with a pair of goals to knot the game at five heading into the final frame.
 
The Bison netted what proved to be the game-winner 30 seconds into the final frame. Neither team was able to add or erase the one-goal lead until 55 seconds on the clock as the Bison added an insurance goal for the 7-5 win.
 
Navy will take on No. 16 Fordham at noon on Sunday, Nov. 24. Live video ($) will be available for the game. Fans can follow @NavyWaterPolo for in-game updates.
 
A nine-time Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) league champion (1986, '87, '88, '90, '00, '03, '06, '07, and '08) and eight-time runner-up (1984, '91, '94, '02, '05, '09, '10, '11), the Midshipmen are guaranteed to record their all-time best finish at a MAWPC Championship as the team previously garnered fifth (2017 at home) and sixth (2016 at Bucknell, 2018 at Fordham) place marks.
 
The 2016 MAWPC Champion, Bucknell received pairs of goals from Joksimovic and Vlasceanu to accompany single tallies by Schofield, Dolan and Lewis.
 
Historically, the Bison are the sole MAWPC Championship host institution to win the crown – a trend which Bucknell will hope to continue on Sunday against 2017 and 2019 MAWPC Champion George Washington.

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 – (5) Wagner 15, (8) La Salle 13
Game 6 – (6) Johns Hopkins 17, (7) Gannon 13
Game 7 – (1) Bucknell 7, (4) Navy 5
Game 8 – (3) George Washington 9, (2) Fordham 5
 
Sunday, November 24
7th Place Game – 9:00 a.m. – (7) Gannon vs. (8) La Salle
5th Place Game – 10:30 a.m. – (5) Wagner vs. (6) Johns Hopkins
3rd Place Game – 12:00 p.m. – (2) Fordham vs. (4) Navy
Championship Game – 1:30 p.m. – (1) Bucknell vs. (3) George Washington