ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 20 Navy water polo team (16-12) received a record-setting performance by goalkeeper Caden Capobianco (Laguna Beach, Calif.) en route to an 11-7 victory over three-seed George Washington (11-14) on Saturday evening in Lejeune Hall at the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Tournament. The Midshipmen advance to the championship game for the first time since 2011.
 
Capobianco set the Navy individual record with 23 saves in the game, topping the previous record of 20, originally set by Kevin Crisson against George Washington in 1988 and matched by George Naughton versus St. Francis in 2007. The sophomore fell one stop shy of tying the team record of 24 saves set against Slippery Rock in 1998.
 
"I am so proud of this team," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "Our goal all season has been to win a championship and we put ourselves in position to do that tomorrow. Caden was outstanding at goal for us today. He was able to hold GW's offense from scoring, giving our guys opportunities to score on the other end. It was a total team effort. We have one more game to go. Fordham will be tough, but we look forward to the challenge."
 
Offensively, the Midshipmen tallied 11 goals on the night with 10 assists for 21 total points. Will Clark (Laguna Beach, Calif.) led the team with four goals, while First-Team All-Conference selection Isaac Salinas (Spring City, Pa.) added his ninth hat trick of the season with three scores. Jake Altmayer (Pasadena, Calif.) chipped in a pair of goals to give Navy three players with multiple scores on the night. Capobianco and Jack Weggeland (Riverside, Calif.) contributed four and three assists, respectively. Salinas recorded a pair of helpers to lead the team with five total points.
 
In addition to his 23 saves, Capobianco paced the team with six steals defensively. Peter Hillen (Orinda, Calif.) added a pair of steals, while Salinas led the team with two ejections drawn.
 
George Washington was the first team to score, finding the back of the net just 19 seconds into the game. Clark responded with his first goal to knot the score at 1-1. The Colonials regained the lead with a score to close out the quarter in front by one, 2-1.
 
In the second, Clark tied the game with his second score of the game. Merle Richman (La Jolla, Calif.) gave the Midshipmen their first lead of the game at 3-2. Clark and Salinas followed with back-to-back goals to push the advantage to 5-2 at the half.
 
Salinas started the third quarter with a goal to extend the advantage to four and Altmayer's score pushed the lead to 7-2. GW trimmed the margin to four, but Salinas completed the hat trick to give Navy a five-point edge. George Washington once again cut the deficit to four, but Michael Heller (Menlo Park, Calif.) responded to close out the third quarter with Navy in front, 9-4.
 
In the fourth quarter, George Washington opened the final frame with a goal, but Clark found the back of the net to increase the margin back to five. The Colonials once again chipped into the Mids' lead, but Altmayer notched his second goal of the game to extend the lead back to five with 75 seconds remaining. GW scored to provide the final margin of 11-7.
 
Navy returns to action at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon as the Midshipmen take on top-seeded and 18th-ranked Fordham (25-6) for the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship. The games will be live streamed on CWPATV.com at a cost of $10 per game or $25 for a weekend pass.