ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 20 Navy water polo team (16-13) fell to No. 18 Fordham (26-6) in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship, 9-6, to finish the season as the League runner up. The Midshipmen finished the season 16-13 overall, including a 9-3 mark in conference play.
The second-place finish is the best for the Midshipmen since coming in as runner up in three consecutive seasons from 2009 to 2011.
"I feel bad for our guys," head coach
Luis Nicolao said after the game. "To make it to the championship game and come up short, it is difficult. Credit to Fordham. They played a good game and were able to come away with the win."
The game was a defensive battle between the top two teams in the MAWPC.
A day after setting the school record with 23 saves,
Caden Capobianco (Laguna Beach, Calif.) registered 12 stops against the Rams, surrendering nine goals. The sophomore added a team-high seven steals in the contest.
In three games during the tournament, Capobianco finished with 46 saves, 16 steals, and four assists.
Offensively, six different Midshipmen found the back of the net in the game.
Jake Altmayer (Pasadena, Calif.),
Will Clark (Laguna Beach, Calif.),
Michael Heller (Menlo Park, Calif.),
Hayden Kahn (San Clemente, Calif.),
Merle Richman (La Jolla, Calif.), and
Isaac Salinas (Spring City, Pa.) finished the game with scores.
Ivan Pang (El Monte, Calif.) finished with a team-high two assists, while Clark, Kahn, and
Peter Hillen (Orinda, Calif.) each added helpers in the game.
For the tournament, the Mids were led by First Team All-Conference honoree and team captain Salinas who finished with 13 points on eight goals and five assists.
Navy opened the scoring in the first quarter with a Kahn goal in the middle. Fordham answered with a goal, but Heller put the Mids in front with a goal to end the quarter. The second quarter saw the Rams outscore the Midshipmen 3-0 to take a 4-2 advantage into halftime.
The Midshipmen came out of the intermission, cutting the deficit to one as Altmayer found the back of the net. The top-seed pushed the lead to three at 6-3 with back-to-back goals. Richman trimmed the margin back to two, but Fordham scored a goal to close out the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Navy once again cut the margin to a pair as Clark buried a long-range shot into the cage. Fordham added a pair of scores to extend the advantage to four with three minutes to play. Salinas snuck the ball past the keeper to cut the lead to three, but the Midshipmen were unable to get any closer, falling 9-6.
