ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy water polo team (2-2) concluded play at the 2019 Navy Open. For the second straight day, the Midshipmen opened the tournament with a loss to a nationally-ranked opponent, falling to No. 2 UCLA (4-0), 20-7, before rallying for an impressive 18-9 victory in the nightcap against Iona (1-3).
"We played well this weekend," head coach
Luis Nicolao said of his team. "The results might be a little skewed because we played two of the best teams in the country in Stanford and UCLA, but I liked how the team responded in the late games against Hopkins and Iona.
"It is still early in the season and we are not where we want to be yet, but I loved the energy and effort this team played with this weekend. We have a game on Monday at home before we hit the road for the first time. We just need to keep working hard and improving so we can be where we want to be by the end of the season."
On the day, the offense had 11 different players score at least one goal. The team was led by sophomore
Isaac Salinas (Spring City, Pa.) who finished the day with eight goals. Salinas was the only Midshipmen to score at least one goal in all four games on the weekend, finishing with hat tricks in the final three games of the tournament.
Defensively,
Ronan Williams (Severna Park, Md.) led the way with 12 saves on the day. The senior captain worked a little more than four quarters in the two games on Sunday, notching five stops against No. 2 UCLA and seven saves against Iona. He was joined in goal by
Max Sandberg (Newport Beach, Calif.) and
Brandon Shields (Lake Forest, Calif.). Sandberg tallied four saves in the first half of the win against Iona, while Shields worked the final quarters against the Bruins and Gaels.
Navy returns to action on Monday, Sept. 9, as the Midshipmen take on Austin College in a nonconference game at 2:00 p.m. at Scott Natatorium.
Game 1 Recap: #2 UCLA 20, Navy 7
Navy opened the day with a hard-fought battle with No. 2 UCLA. The Bruins (3-0) picked up a 20-7 victory over the Mids. Navy was led by Salinas, who posted his second hat trick in as many games. Freshmen
Peter Hillen (Orinda, Calif.) and
Will Clark (Laguna Beach, Calif.) netted their first collegiate goals in the game.
The Mids won the third quarter, outscoring the Bruins, 4-3. Salinas had a pair of goals in the quarter, while
Trevor Clark (San Marcos, Calif.) and W. Clark each added a goal apiece in the quarter.
Bobby Wall (San Mateo, Calif.) chipped a goal during the fourth quarter.
Defensively, Williams worked the first three quarters at goal. The senior captain allowed 16 goals, while posting five saves. He was relieved by Shields who surrendered four goals.
Game 2 Recap: Navy 18, Iona 9
In the second game of the day for the Midshipmen, Navy jumped out early and never looked back. The Mids trailed 1-0 before scoring 7-of-the-next-8 goals. Six different Mids scored in the first quarter, including Merele Richman (La Jolla, Calif.) and
Zach Luci (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) who registered their first collegiate goals.
Navy continued to roll in the second quarter, scoring five goals to push its advantage to six goals, while the third quarter saw the Midshipmen outscore the Gaels, 5-2. The fourth quarter was quiet with each team scoring one goal to provide the final margin of 18-9.
Against Iona, Navy was led by Salinas once again. The sophomore netted five goals to push his season total to a team-high 13. Luci finished the game with his first collegiate hat trick, netting three goals, while fellow freshman Richman notched a multi-goal performance with a pair of scores.
Sandberg worked the first half between the pipes. The sophomore surrendered six goals, while making four saves. He gave way to Williams who tallied seven stops in just over a quarter of play, while allowing just two goals. Shields worked most of the fourth quarter allowing a goal and notching a save.
