ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 20 Navy water polo team (19-5, 9-3) swept a pair of Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference games at Scott Natatorium in Annapolis to conclude the regular season. The Midshipmen opened the day with a 19-7 victory over Mount St. Mary's (7-20, 6-11) before concluding the weekend with a 19-8 Senior Day victory over George Washington (11-13, 5-7).
 
"Today was a great way to finish the regular season," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "We were able to play at home, get a couple of wins, and play a lot of the guys on the team what work hard every day, but don't always get into the games."
 
Navy's game against GW served as Senior Day and prior to the game, the Midshipmen recognizing their nine seniors – Travis Berzins, Caden Capobianco, Nathan Duchez, Owen Gurich, Hayden Kahn, Ivan Pang, Merle Richman, Spencer Shelley, and Kyle Yelensky.
 
"In addition, we got to honor our seniors before the GW game," Nicolao added. "All of the seniors that were healthy were able to play in the game and made an impact on the game today. It is always a great feeling to be able to send your seniors out with a win. I couldn't be prouder."
 
Offensively, fourteen (14) different Midshipmen scored goals on the day with 10 notching multiple scores. Kiefer Black and Kahn led the team with seven goals apiece, while Holden Seybold added four scores. Pang and Shelley added three goals each, while Aiden Day, Michael Heller, Alejandro Schmidt-Corujo, Luka Sekulic, and Billy Zech added two scores apiece. Connor Cashman, Duchez, Tommy McKnew, and William True each found the back of the net once on the day.
 
Black led the team with seven assists, while Cashman and Day added two helpers apiece. Additionally, Rory Begin, Sam Collingwood, Duchez, Heller, Kahn, True, and Yelensky were credited with assists.
 
With his 14 points on the day, Black now has 107 points in his rookie season. It is the fourteenth (14) 100-point season in program history. Black becomes the 12th player in school history with a 100-point season and the first since Isaac Salinas ('22) finished with 104 points in 2019. Black ties Sean Foster ('01) for the eighth-most points in a single season at 107. He is one shy of Brian Wineke ('94) who had 108 in 1993.
 
At goal, the Midshipmen used three goalkeepers on the day. Capobianco saw a lion share of the action, finishing the doubleheader with 29 saves compared to 10 goals allowed. He also added a pair of steals on the day. Gurich worked the final quarter against George Washington finishing with three saves, while Francis Hendrickson tallied four stops and a takeaway in a quarter of play against the Mount.
 
The Midshipmen will now have a week off before traveling to Lewisburg, Pa. for the 2023 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Tournament hosted by Bucknell University at Kinney Natatorium. Navy's opponents and game times are yet to be determined.
 
Game 1 Recap: #20 Navy 19, Mount St. Mary's 7
Navy opened the day with a 19-7 victory over Mount St. Mary's. The Midshipmen had nine people score goals in the game, including eight with multiple goals.
 
Seybold got the game rolling with a goal in front of the cage. Black followed with back-to-back strikes to push the advantage to 3-0. Following a Mountaineer goal, Black completed his first-quarter hat trick with a goal. Pang made the game 5-1, but a penalty shot by the Mount closed the gap to 5-2 at the end of the first quarter.
 
In the second quarter, the Mids scored the first five goals of the period to take control of the game. Kahn, Seybold, and Day each dented the back of the net with Zech recording back-to-back goals to put Navy in front, 10-2. Mount St. Mary's used a second penalty shot for its first goal of the quarter, while ending the half with a goal to pull to within six at 10-4.
 
Kahn started the second half with his second goal of the game to extend the advantage to seven. Following a Mountaineer goal, the Midshipmen ended the third quarter on a 5-0 run to take a 16-5 lead into the final fame. Sekulic had a pair of scores in the run, while Black, Day, and Pang each added goals in the quarter.
 
In the fourth quarter, Navy outscored the Mount, 3-2, to post a final tally of 19-7. Schmidt-Corujo found the back of the net twice to match the Mountaineers, and Shelley's goal gave the Mids the advantage in the quarter to help secure the 19-7 victory.
 
Game 2 Recap: #20 Navy vs. George Washington
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Midshipmen once again notched a decisive victory.
 
The Revolutionaries were the first team to score, but seniors Shelley and Kahn answered to put the Midshipmen in front during the Senior Day game. After George Washington tied the game at two, McKnew and Black gave Navy the lead that the Mids would not surrender. GW cut the margin to one, but Black pushed the advantage back to two, 5-3, to end the first quarter.
 
In the second quarter, the Midshipmen took control of the game. The Mids outscored the Revolutionaries, 5-1, in the period. Kahn got the scoring going with Seybold following with a shot to the corner of the net. Duchez, Black, and Pang extended the lead to 10-3 before a GW goal closed out the half.
 
Kahn scored back-to-back goals to start the third quarter. Seybold followed with his second score of the game. Cashman gave Navy a 10-goal advantage. After George Washington trimmed the margin to single digits, Heller scored consecutive goals to give the home team a 16-5 lead through three quarters.
 
In the fourth quarter, George Washington scored to cut the Navy lead to 10, but Kahn answered with his fifth goal of the game. Shelley buried his second goal of the game into the net putting the Mids in front by a dozen. Back-to-back scores by the Revolutionaries once again cut the margin to 10, but True provided the final margin, 19-8, with a late goal.