EMMITSBURG, Md. – The Navy water polo team (9-10, 4-4) was edged 15-14 by Mount St. Mary's (13-8, 6-5) in a Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference game at ARCC Swimming Pool in Emmitsburg, Md. on Saturday night. Tied 14-14 with less than 10 seconds on the clock, the Midshipmen surrendered a goal, falling to the Mountaineers.
 
"Playing in a shallow / deep pool is always difficult," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "We were able to start strong, but the second quarter when we were on the shallow end was brutal. We made some adjustments and played much better in the second half. Caden did great at goal in the second half, keeping us in game and keeping the score close. Hats off to the Mount and Alyssa (Diacono). They played well tonight and were able to pull it out in the end. No time to stress about this one. We play a very good Bucknell team tomorrow at noon."
 
Seven different Mids scored a goal in the game with Michael Heller (Menlo Park, Calif.) and Chris Kim (Los Angeles, Calif.) leading the way. Heller finished with five scores, while Kim registered a career high four goals for his first collegiate hat trick.
 
Travis Berzins (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), Nathan Duchez (San Jose, Calif.), Peter Hillen (Orinda, Calif.), Hayden Kahn (San Clemente, Calif.), and Danny Taylor (Riverside, Conn.) rounded out the scoring.
 
Jake Altmayer (Pasadena, Calif.), Will Clark (Laguna Beach, Calif.), and Duchez led the team with two assists apiece, while Rory Begin (Bakersfield, Calif.), Tommy McKnew (Tiburon, Calif.), and Ivan Pang (El Monte, Calif.) added helpers.
 
At goal, Caden Capobianco (Laguna Beach, Calif.) finished the game with seven saves to go along with two steals. Berzins joined Capobianco with two takeaways defensively.
 
In the first quarter, Mount St. Mary's opened the scoring, but Navy countered with a 3-0 run. Heller scored the first of his five goals to tie the game at one. Hillen gave the Mids their first lead of the night with a goal. Berzins pushed the advantage to 3-1, while Kim scored his first of two first-quarter goals to give Navy a 4-1 advantage. Following a Mountaineer goal, Kim answered with a goal to push the advantage to three. Duchez gave Navy a 6-2 lead, but the home team scored just before the quarter ended to close the gap to 6-3.
 
The second quarter was almost all Mount St. Mary's. The home team scored the first five goals of the quarter to take an 8-6 lead. Kim completed his first-half hat trick with his third goal to close the gap to one, but back-to-back scores by the Mount pushed their advantage to 10-7. Taylor closed out the half with a goal to pull Navy to within two.
 
In the third quarter, Kahn and Heller scored consecutive goals to knot the game at 10. Kim followed with his fourth score of the game to give the Mids a one-goal lead. Mount St. Mary's tied the game at 11 with two and a half minutes remaining in the quarter. The Mount regained the lead by converting a five-meter opportunity.
 
Heller took over to start the fourth quarter. The sophomore opened the scoring with three consecutive goals to give Navy a 14-12 lead with just six minutes to play. The Mountaineers scored with four minutes to play to trim the margin to two. The Mids defense held tough for the next three minutes, but allowed the game-tying goal with 53 ticks remaining on the clock. The two teams traded possessions with nothing to show for it. With nine seconds on the clock, the Mount took advantage of a man-up opportunity to score the game-winning goal.
 
Navy returns to action on Sunday as the Mids travel to Lewisburg, Pa. for a conference matchup with Bucknell (11-8, 8-3). The game is slated for 12:00 p.m. at Kinney Natatorium.