ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy water polo team (1-1) split a pair of games at the annual Navy Open on Saturday at Lejeune Hall in Annapolis, Md. The Midshipmen were unable to get things working against No. 2 Stanford (1-0) in the first game of the day, dropping a 26-3 decision. The Mids rebounded in the nightcap, posting a 19-8 victory over Johns Hopkins (1-1). Three Midshipmen –
Jake Altmayer (Pasadena, Calif.),
Trevor Clark (San Marcos, Calif.), and
Isaac Salinas (Spring City, Pa.) each notched their first hat tricks of the season against the Blue Jays, while senior captain
Ronan Williams (Severna Park, Md.) finished with 13 saves versus Hopkins.
"It was a tale of two games, but more accurately, two different opponents," head coach
Luis Nicolao said after the game. "Stanford is one of the best in the country and it was good for our guys to see the level that we want to rise to. With Hopkins, it was huge that we came away with a win since that is a conference opponent. We started off slow, trading goals, but rallied late in the second quarter to take control of the game. We have to put these games behind us now and move on to a pair of challenging games tomorrow."
On the day, 11 different players scored at least one goal. Salinas finished the day with a team-high five goals, while Altmayer chipped in four against Johns Hopkins. Clark finished with a hat trick against the Blue Jays and
Andrew Shashin (Buffalo Grove, Ill.). chipped in a pair.
At goal, Williams led the team with 13 stops on the day. In his first action of the season, the senior captain surrendered five goals in the first half and worked a clean stat sheet in the third quarter against Johns Hopkins. He gave way to fellow senior
Brandon Shields (Lake Forest, Calif.) who surrendered three goals and notched three saves in the contest.
Max Sandberg (Newport Beach, Calif.) started the first game of the day against the second-best team in the country. The sophomore tallied five saves in the game before Shields entered and notched a pair of stops.
Navy returns to action on Sunday, Sept. 8 as the Midshipmen take on No. 2 UCLA at 9:15 a.m. at Lejeune Hall to kick off the final day of the Navy Open. The Mids conclude the annual tournament with a game against Iona at 3:30 p.m.
Game 1 Recap: #2 Stanford 26, Navy 3
Navy officially started the 2019 season with a tough matchup against No. 2 Stanford. The Cardinal showed why they are one of the top teams in the country, jumping out to a 9-2 lead in the first quarter. Stanford pushed its advantage to 15-3 by halftime before holding the Navy offense scoreless in the second half to post a 26-3 victory.
Bobby Lee (Santa Ana, Calif.) scored the first goal of the day for the Midshipmen, while
Jesse Hainze (Bellevue, Wash.) chipped in a first-quarter goal as well. The 2018 MAWPC Rookie of the year, Salinas, netted his first goal of the season in the first half.
Game 2 Recap: Navy 19, Johns Hopkins 8
In the second game of the day, the Midshipmen used a balanced effort to improve to 1-0 in Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference play, posting a 19-8 victory over Johns Hopkins. Navy had 10 players combine for 19 goals and two goalies register 16 stops in the win.
Altmayer and Salinas each tallied four goals in the game. For the freshman Altmayer, it was his first collegiate hat trick, while it was the ninth in the young career for Salinas. Clark also added three goals for his first hat trick of the season, while Shashin chipped in a pair of goals.
Williams paced the team with 13 saves, while Shields added three of his five stops on the day against JHU.
The two teams traded goals in the early goings with Johns Hopkins taking a 4-3 lead late in the first quarter. Navy responded with five straight goals and 14-of-15 goals to take control of the game. The Midshipmen blanked the Blue Jays, 8-0 in the third quarter as six different Navy players scored in the stanza. Hopkins held a slight, 3-2, advantage in goals in the fourth quarter, but the Navy dominance led to a double-digit victory, 19-8.
