BRONX, N.Y. – The Navy water polo team (15-15) posted a 15-11 overtime victory over Johns Hopkins (11-24) on the second day of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Tournament at the Col. Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center in the Bronx, N.Y. The Midshipmen scored the final two goals of regulation to force overtime. In the extra period, the Mids outscored the Blue Jays 4-0 to secure the win.
Navy concludes action in the conference tournament on Sunday afternoon as the Midshipmen take on fourth-seeded Wagner (17-13) at 12:00 p.m.
"We did not play particularly well today," head coach
Luis Nicolao said. "We committed to many turnovers and missed too many shots. That being said, the team stepped up when they needed to. We were able to force overtime, and once in overtime, we were able to shut Hopkins out and earn the win. We have one more game in the tournament. One more opportunity to have the team get to play together. One more opportunity to get a win."
Offensively, the Midshipmen tallied 27 points on 15 goals with 12 assists.
Jake Altmayer (Pasadena, Calif.) led the team with seven points on a team-best six goals and an assist.
Tommy McKnew (Tiburon, Calif.) chipped in three goals for his first hat trick of the season and the second of his two-year career.
Michael Heller (Menlo Park, Calif.) and
Chris Kim (Los Angeles, Calif.) finished the game with four points apiece, each finishing with a goal and a team-high three assists.
Rory Begin (Bakersfield, Calif.) and
Henry Williams (San Diego, Calif.) added two helpers apiece with Begin contributing a goal.
Travis Berzins (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.),
Nathan Duchez (San Jose, Calif.), and
Holden Seybold (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) rounded out the scoring with one goal each, while
Ivan Pang (El Monte, Calif.) registered a point with an assist.
Caden Capobianco (Laguna Beach, Calif.) posted a complete-game effort between the posts for the Midshipmen. The goalie finished with seven saves and four steals in the contest. With the game on the line, Capobianco did not allow a goal in the final 2:45 of regulation, while blanking the Blue Jays during the six-minute overtime.
Johns Hopkins opened the game with a goal, but Heller answered to tie the game at 1-1. Following back-to-back scores by the Blue Jays, Duchez and McKnew evened the score at 3-3. In the second quarter, Hopkins once again started out recording the first goal of the period. Altmayer responded with three consecutive goals to give Navy a 6-4 advantage at halftime.
The Blue Jays pulled to within one, converting a five-meter attempt to start the second half. Altmayer pushed the Midshipmen advantage back to two goals, but three straight scores by the designated visiting team put Hopkins in front 8-7. McKnew scored the equalizer, but Johns Hopkins scored with under a minute to play in the third quarter to take a 9-8 advantage into the final period of regulation. The Blue Jays extended their lead to two. Altmayer trimmed the margin to one, but Johns Hopkins answered to push the margin to two scores with 2:46 remaining in the fourth quarter. Navy cut the deficit in half, 11-10, twenty-five seconds later as Kim used a cross-cage strike for the goal. With 69 ticks remaining on the clock, Begin tied the game at 11-11. The defense held strong in the final minute to force overtime.
The Midshipmen took control of overtime and did not give the Blue Jays an opportunity. Berzins opened the extra period with a goal with McKnew and Altmayer following with goals to give the Mids the largest lead of the afternoon. The two teams switched sides of the pool and Seybold added an insurance goal, which proved to be the final score of the game, giving Navy the 15-11 victory.
Tournament Schedule
Friday, Nov. 18
Game 1: 11:00 a.m. – (8) McKendree 16, (9) Gannon 11
Game 2: 12:20 p.m. – (10) Johns Hopkins 18, (7) Mount St. Mary's 17
Game 3: 1:40 p.m. – (6) Navy 21, (11) Mercyhurst 9
Game 4: 3:00 p.m. – (5) Salem 17, (4) Wagner 13
Game 5: 4:20 p.m. – (1) Fordham 15, (8) McKendree 6
Game 6: 5:40 p.m. – (2) George Washington 15, (10) Johns Hopkins 5
Game 7: 7:00 p.m. – (3) Bucknell 8, (6) Navy 6
Saturday, Nov. 19
Game 8: 1:00 p.m. – (7) Mount St. Mary's 18, (11) Mercyhurst 8
Game 9: 2:20 p.m. – (4) Wagner 15, (8) McKendree 14
Game 10: 3:40 p.m. – (6) Navy 15, (10) Johns Hopkins 11 (overtime)
Game 11: 5:00 p.m. – (9) Gannon 17, (11) Mercyhurst 6
Game 12: 6:30 p.m. – (1) Fordham 19, (5) Salem 8
Game 13: 8:00 p.m. – (3) Bucknell 7, (2) George Washington 5
Sunday, Nov. 20
Game 14: 9:00 a.m. – (9) Gannon vs. (7) Mount St. Mary's
Game 15: 10:30 a.m. – (10) Johns Hopkins vs. (8) McKendree (Seventh Place Game)
Game 16: 12:00 p.m. – (4) Wagner vs. (6) Navy (Fifth Place Game)
Game 17: 1:30 p.m. – (2) George Washington vs. (5) Salem (Third Place Game)
Game 18: 3:00 p.m. – (1) Fordham vs. (3) Bucknell (Championship Game)
