ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 19 Navy water polo team (2-2) concluded competition at the 2021 Navy Open on Sunday at Lejeune Hall with a split of two games. The Midshipmen opened the day with a 16-4 victory over Iona, before dropping a 19-8 decision to No. 9 UC Davis.
 
"I thought we played well, but not great," head coach Luis Nicolao said after the second day of competition. "I thought we looked good against Iona, but we made too many mistakes against (UC) Davis. Against a team like that, we need to be better. This afternoon, we just got beat by a better team. The good news is, the season is far from over. We can use this tournament to see the areas we need to improve on and continue to get better."
 
Offensively, Navy had 12 players score goals, including seven who notched multiple scores. Isaac Salinas (Spring City, Pa.) led the way with four goals, while Jake Altmayer (Pasadena, Calif.), Michael Heller (Menlo Park, Calif.), and Hayden Kahn (San Clemente, Calif.) chipped in three goals apiece. Will Clark (Laguna Beach, Calif.), Nathan Duchez (San Jose, Calif.), and Henry Williams (San Diego, Calif.) followed with two scores each.
 
The Midshipmen used four goalies in the two games. Max Sandberg (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Jonas Greer (Los Angeles, Calif.) combined for 13 saves against Iona, while Caden Capobianco (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and Owen Gurich (Long Beach, Calif.) recorded nine combined saves against UC Davis.
 
Navy returns to action next weekend as the Midshipmen head to Princeton, N.J. for the annual Princeton Invitational. The Mids will take on No. 18 Brown, No. 4 Stanford, and Iona during the tournament.
 
Game 1 Recap: #19 Navy 16, Iona 4
The Navy water polo team began Day 2 of competition at the 2021 Navy Open with a 16-4 victory over Iona.
 
The win saw 10 different players finish with goals, including five players with multiple goals. Salinas led the charge with his first hat trick of the season, netting three goals, while adding an assist. Altmayer, Duchez, Kahn, and Williams each added a pair of goals each.
 
In the cage, Sandberg worked the first three quarters before giving way to Greer in the fourth. Sandberg finished the game with 11 saves, while surrendering just four goals. Greer worked a perfect fourth quarter, notching a pair of saves without allowing a goal.
 
Navy scored early and often and did not look back, cruising to victory. The Midshipmen scored nine straight goals to open the game before surrendering a goal. Kahn picked up a ball off of a deflection and buried it in the back of the net for the first goal of the contest. Salinas followed with his first goal of the contest. Altmayer pushed the advantage to four with back-to-back scores and Duchez closed out the first quarter with a goal off of a rebound. In the second quarter, Navy increased its edge to 10. Kahn notched his second goal of the game off of an assist from Ivan Pang (El Monte, Calif.). Clark converted a five-meter attempt to continue the offensive barrage. Salinas scored his second goal and had an assist on Duchez's second score to put the home team in front 9-0. Following an Iona goal, Navy used goals from Erik Nordquist (San Diego, Calif.) – first collegiate goal – and Chris Kim (Los Angeles, Calif.) to take an 11-1 advantage into intermission.
 
In the second half, the Gaels found some offense, scoring three of the first four goals of the third quarter. After back-to-back Iona goals trimmed the margin to eight, Heller scored his first collegiate goal on a five-meter attempt to push the advantage back to nine. The Gaels answered with a goal, but the Midshipmen responded. Salinas completed the hat trick with his third score, while Williams found the back of the net for the first time in his Navy career. In the fourth quarter, the Midshipmen used a pair of goals and solid defense to close the game out. Williams netted his second goal, while John Nelligan (Wayne, Pa.) provided the final margin with a goal off a Connor Simpson (San Rafael, Calif.) helper. Greer's two stops and a strong defensive effort kept Iona off of the scoreboard, giving Navy a 16-4 victory.
 
Game 2 Recap: #9 UC Davis 19, #19 Navy 8
In the second game of the day, Navy was upended by UC Davis, 19-8.
 
The Aggies started the scoring with a goal, but Pang answered to knot the score at one apiece. UC Davis converted a five-meter attempt, but Altmayer took a pass from Salinas and buried it in the back of the net to tie the game at two. The visitors regained the lead with back-to-back scores. Clark pulled the Mids to within one, but the UC Davis goalie heaved the ball into the goal as the time expired to end the quarter. In the second stanza, Travis Berzins (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) skipped the ball low past the goalie to trim the margin to 5-4. UC Davis scored four of the next five goals to push the advantage to 9-5. Salinas scored his team-leading fourth goal of the day in the second quarter.
 
The second half saw nationally-ranked UC Davis outscore Navy, 10-3. Kahn scored one of the Mids' goals off of an Altmayer helper. Heller recorded the other two goals to give the freshman his first colligate multi-goal game of his career. His first goal, Heller fought for the ball, spun, and scored in the upper right corner of the goal. The rookie's second goal was a laser from mid-pool.