PRINCETON, N.J. – The Navy water polo team (3-3) split the first day of competition at the Princeton Invitational at DuNuzio Pool in Princeton, N.J. The Midshipmen opened the tournament with an 11-7 victory over Brown (5-2), marking the first time since 2014 the Mids beat the Bears. Navy dropped an 18-4 decision to No. 3 Stanford (6-0) in the night cap.
 
"I am extremely proud of the guys," head coach Luis Nicolao. "We defeated Brown for the first time since 2014, which was huge for us. The game was even for a while, but we were able to pull away down the stretch. The defense came up big and we were able to convert some opportunities offensively. We could've done better against Stanford, but they are top five in the country for a reason. We have a big game against Iona tomorrow and will look to return home with another victory."
 
Ten different Midshipmen scored goals on the day. Isaac Salinas (Spring City, Pa.) finished the day with a team-high five goals, while Jack Weggeland (Riverside, Calif.) added a pair of scores. Jake Altmayer (Pasadena, Calif.) led the team with a pair of assists on the day.
 
At goal, the Mids used a pair of goals on the day. Caden Capobianco (Laguna Beach, Calif.) opened the day with a win, finishing with 10 saves and seven goals allowed with a pair of steals. Max Sandberg (Newport Beach, Calif.) recorded six stops against the nationally-ranked Cardinal in the late game.
 
Navy concludes play in the Princeton Invitational with a game against Iona (2-4) on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. at DuNuzio Pool.
 
Game 1 Recap: Navy 11, Brown 7
In the first game of the day, Navy had 10 players combine for 11 goals. Weggeland paced the team with two goals, including the game-winning goal. Defensively, Capobianco finished the game with 10 saves to secure the win.
 
The Midshipmen and the Bears battled back and forth for the first three quarters before the Mids pulled away.
 
Brown opened the game with back-to-back scores, but Michael Heller (Menlo Park, Calif.) cut the lead in half with a goal off of a rebound. Following a Bears' goal, Weggeland and Kyle Yelensky (Stamford, Conn.) found the back of the net to knot the score at 3-3 through one quarter of play. In the second quarter, the two teams traded goals with Salinas and Graham Lindner (Bel Air, Md.) scoring goals to go into intermission even at 5-5
 
Hayden Kahn (San Clemente, Calif.) opened the third quarter with a goal to give the Mids the advantage. The Bears answered with back-to-back goals to regain the lead. Peter Hillen (Orinda, Calif.) scored to knot the game at 7-7 and Weggeland gave Navy the lead, which they would not relinquish. In the fourth quarter, the Midshipmen outscored the Bears, 3-0, to push the lead to four. Ivan Pang (El Monte, Calif.), Travis Berzins (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), and Payton Comstock (Clarendon Hills, Ill.) netted goals and the Navy defense posted a shutout to preserve the victory.
 
Game 2 Recap: #3 Stanford 18, Navy 4
Salinas provided the offense for the Midshipmen in the second game, scoring all four goals in the contest. The four goals gave the senior captain his second hat trick of the season. Sandberg registered six saves between the posts for the Mids.
 
The nationally-ranked Cardinal opened up the scoring with a goal, but Salinas answered to knot the score at one. Stanford closed out the first quarter with three consecutive goals to take a 4-1 lead. The designated visitors increased their advantage with four straight goals to start the second quarter. Salinas broke up the string of goals with his second score of the game, but Stanford found the back of the net to end the half in front 9-2.
 
Salinas added two more goals in the third quarter. However, four goals by Stanford in third quarter and five more scores by the Cardinal in the fourth gave the nationally-ranked foe an 18-4 win.