LEWISBURG, Pa. – The No. 19 Navy water polo team (15-4, 5-2 MAWPC) posted a 14-12 road win against Bucknell (8-9, 5-3 MAWPC) on Sunday afternoon to finish the weekend 3-0, including a pair of Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference victories.
"We had a good weekend," head coach
Luis Nicolao said after the game. "We went 3-0; we got a couple of conference victories; and we had a lot of guys get some time in the pool. On top of all of that, we had a fantastic alumni game on Saturday. Today was a tough one, but the guys fought hard and were able to make enough plays to get the job done. It was a great weekend."
Freshmen
Aiden Day and
Kiefer Black led the team with a pair of hat tricks. Day paced the squad with five goals, while Black added three scores.
Rory Begin added two goals, while
Sam Collingwood,
Michael Heller,
Holden Seybold, and
Henry Williams each found the back of the net.
Black paced the squad with three assists, while Collingwood and Seybold each added helpers.
Caden Capobianco worked a complete game at goal. The senior finished with 11 saves and a team-high three steals in the win. Day matched Capobianco with three steals, while Heller added a pair of takeaways.
Tommy McKnew led the team with two ejections drawn.
Bucknell was the first team to score, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first quarter. Black knotted the game at one with his first score of the day. The Bison closed out the opening quarter with a goal to regain the lead.
In the second quarter, Day found the equalizer to knot the game at two. Bucknell once again retook the lead, but Black tied the game for the second time with a second goal. Seybold gave Navy its first lead of the day, while Day pushed the Mids' lead to two, 5-3. The Bison trimmed the margin to one, sending the game into halftime with the Midshipmen in front, 5-4.
The second half saw Black and Collingwood score back-to-back goals to push the Navy advantage to three. The home team cut into the margin, but three straight goals by Day, Begin, and Black pushed the lead to 10-5. Williams answered a Bucknell goal to keep the Navy lead at five, 11-6, but the Bison trimmed the margin to four to end the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Day found the back of the net just 13 seconds into the quarter to extend the advantage back to five goals. Bucknell scored consecutive goals to cut the deficit to three, but Day countered with a score. After a Bison goal, Heller extended the advantage to four goals with just over two minutes to play in regulation. Bucknell was able to score on back-to-back possessions, but Navy was able to use clock and close out the game, securing the two-goal victory.
The Midshipmen will play a single game next weekend as Navy travels to the Bronx, N.Y. for a MAWPC matchup with No. 17 Fordham. The Rams, who are on a bye until they face off against the Midshipmen, are 12-3 on the year, including an 8-0 mark in conference play. The game will be live streamed on Stretch.
