Box Score BALTIMORE, Md. – The No. 20 Navy water polo team (17-5, 7-3) posted a 19-14 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference victory over Johns Hopkins (5-16, 1-10) on Saturday evening at the Newton White Athletic Center – Natatorium in Baltimore. The Midshipmen never trailed, outscoring the Blue Jays, 8-0, in the first quarter.
"Tonight was a good game," head coach
Luis Nicolao said. "We came in and jumped out to a big lead. We were able to clear the bench and get everyone a chance to get into the game. Our depth was able to help us rest some guys, which is good with two games tomorrow. Hopkins always plays tough and were able to make some plays against us; but I like the way our team continued to battle and come away with the win."
The Mids were able to play every healthy player on the roster.
Thirteen different Midshipmen scored goals in the game with four players finishing with multiple scores.
Michael Heller and
Hayden Kahn found the back of the net three times apiece, while
Connor Cashman and
Nathan Duchez chipped in two scores each.
Rory Begin,
Kiefer Black,
Sam Collingwood,
Jacques Dutton,
Merle Richman, Alejandro Schmidt-Corujo,
Luka Sekulic,
William True, and
Billy Zech were each able to find the back of the net.
The Navy offense registered 15 assists on its 19 goals.
Ivan Pang led the team with three assists, while Begin and Richman added a pair of helpers each. Black, Collingwood, Duchez, Kahn, Sekulic, along with
Tommy McKnew,
Spencer Shelley, and
Henry Williams added assists.
Defensively, the Midshipmen used four goalies with each goalkeeper working a quarter between the posts. The quartet tallied 15 saves, while the Mids defense finished the game with 18 steals.
Caden Capobianco opened the game at goal, finishing with five saves, one steal and no goals allowed. He gave way to fellow senior
Owen Gurich who worked the second quarter with three stops and a pair of takeaways.
Shaan Sandhoo notched four saves and a steal in the third quarter, while
Francis Hendrickson finished the final quarter with three saves and a steal. Heller led the team with three steals while Richman added multiple takeaways.
Navy started the game with eight straight goals to take an 8-0 lead through the first quarter. Kahn netted back-to-back goals to jump out to an early 2-0 lead. Six Mids – Black, Heller, Cashman, Sekulic, Zech and Duchez – followed with scores to push the advantage to eight goals.
In the second quarter, Heller continued the scoring, pushing the lead to 9-0. Following a Johns Hopkins goal, Heller completed his first-half hat trick with his third goal. The Blue Jays made consecutive goals, but Richman ended the first half with a score to keep the Navy advantage eight, 11-3.
Johns Hopkins began the second half with consecutive scores, but Collingwood ended the mini-run with a goal. The home team added a score, but Cashman responded with a goal. Three straight by Hopkins trimmed the Mids' lead to 13-9, but Duchez and Begin countered with scores to send the game into the final period with Navy in front, 15-9.
In the fourth, JHU cut the Navy lead to five, but Kahn buried a goal in the back of the net to give the senior a hat trick. Dutton and Schmidt-Corujo countered a pair of goals by the home team. True put the Midshipmen in front 19-12 with 69 seconds remaining. Johns Hopkins were able to score a pair of goals in the final minute, but Navy held on for the five-goal win.
The Mids conclude the weekend with a pair of home games on Sunday against Mount St. Mary's (7-19, 1-10) and George Washington (11-12, 5-6). The game against the Mount, which will serve as Senior Day for the Midshipmen, is slated for 11:00 a.m. while the game versus the Revolutionaries will take place at 3:00 p.m.
