ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 20 Navy water polo team opens up the 2023 campaign in California for five games. The Midshipmen are set to compete in the Triton Invitational hosted by UC San Diego in La Jolla, Calif on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 2-3 before concluding the opening-weekend road swing against No. 1 Cal in Coronado, Calif. on Monday.
 
The Triton Invitational features a 14-team field of some of the best water polo teams in the country – Biola, No. 1 Cal, Cal State Fullerton, No. 17 California Baptist, Concordia, No. 9 Long Beach State, No. 20 Navy, No. 2 (DIII) Pomona-Pitzer, No. 4 Stanford, No. 10 UC Irvine, No. 11 UC San Diego, No. 7 UC Santa Barbara, No. 3 UCLA, and No. 2 USC. Information, including directions and ticket information, about the 2023 Triton Invitational can be found here.
 
On Saturday, the Mids begin competition against Cal State Fullerton at 12:15 p.m. (ET) before taking on Biola at 6:45 p.m. (ET). Navy concludes the Triton Invite on Sunday as the Midshipmen face a pair of ranked opponents – No. 9 Long Beach State (11:00 a.m. ET) and No. 11 UC San Diego (3:00 p.m. ET).
 
Monday the Midshipmen make the trip from San Diego to Coronado to take on back-to-back defending national champion Cal. The opening sprint is slated for 12:00 p.m. (ET).
 
Media Coverage
Navy's game against tournament-host UC San Diego will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available. The Mids' other three contests at the Triton Invite will feature a video-only live stream ($) on Overnght Media.
 
For more information on Navy water polo, follow the team on Instagram (@NavyWaterPolo), X / Twitter (@NavyWaterPolo), and Facebook (@NavyWaterPolo).
 
Capobianco Named 2023 Water Polo Team Captain
Head coach Luis Nicolao announced that senior Caden Capobianco will be team captain for the 2023 campaign. Capobianco is a three-year letterwinner at goal for the Midshipmen who has registered 531 saves with a 51.5 save percentage in 56 games played. He has tallied 158 steals while adding 28 assists offensively.
 
The senior was an honorable mention Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-American selection in 2021 as a sophomore. He finished the year with 242 stops with 71 steals and 13 assists. Additionally, the goalkeeper was selected to the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) All-Tournament team. As a junior, he earned second-team All-MAWPC honors, leading Navy with 259 saves and 77 steals, while adding 13 assists.
 
National Rankings / Preseason MAWPC Poll
The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) announced its preseason poll and the Navy water polo team starts the 2023 season ranked No. 20. Never ones to shy away from a challenge, the Mids will square off against eight teams ranked or receiving votes in the initial CWPA poll, including the two-time defending national champion and top-ranked Cal Golden Bears.
 
In addition, the CWPA selected the Midshipmen to finish second in the MAWPC. Fordham, who was preseason ranked No. 15, was predicted to repeat as MAWPC champions, while Navy and George Washington were tied for second in the conference rankings. Bucknell was picked fourth with Johns Hopkins rounding out the league's top 5.
 
Season in Review
In 2022, Navy posted a 16-15 overall record with an 8-8 mark in conference play. The Midshipmen entered the MAWPC Tournament as the No. 6 seed, but victories over Mercyhurst (W, 21-9), Johns Hopkins (W, 15-11 in OT), and Wagner (W, 17-14) boosted Navy into fifth place. Michael Heller (first team), Jake Altmayer (honorable mention), and Caden Capobianco (honorable mention) led the team as All-Conference selections, while Heller was also named All-MAWPC Tournament (second team).
 
Captains Jake Altmayer and Will Clark, along with Michael Heller led the Midshipmen offensively. Altmayer paced the offense with a team-high 81 points on 46 goals and a team-best 35 assists. Heller contributed a team-high 56 goals with 18 helpers to give him 74 total points, while Clark has a more balanced 26 goals and 32 assists for 58 total points. Tommy McKnew had 32 goals, while Travis Berzins added 27 scores. Nathan Duchez added 26 scores, while Hayden Kahn and Chris Kim notched 21 goals apiece to round out Navy's 20-goal scorers. Ivan Pang and Rory Begin notched 25 and 21 assists to join Altmayer, Clark, and Heller in the top 5 in helpers.
 
Defensively, Caden Capobianco saw a majority of time between the posts. He appeared in 28 of 31 games, notching 259 saves and registering a 47.3 save percentage. In addition, Capobianco led the team with 77 steals. Jack Hightower finished with 38 stops and a 42.7 save percentage with seven steals. Altmayer, Heller, and Berzins led all position players with 21, 20, and 16 steals apiece.
 
Kahn led the team with 30 ejections drawn, while McKnew was second with 28. Berzins and Yelensky were next with 26 and 24, respectively.
 
In the classroom, ten (10) Navy student-athletes, including water polo players Peter Hillen and Graham Lindner, garnered College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District accolades for at-large sports. Hillen and Lindner, along with Navy gymnast Ian Dinmore, earned CSC Academic All-America honors. Dinmore and Hillen garnered first team recognition, while Lindner was noted on the second team. Navy was one of seven schools to put multiple athletes on the first and second teams.
 
Up Next
Following the California swing, the Midshipmen will head to Princeton, N.J. for the annual Princeton Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 9-10. The Mids will take on Santa Clara (11:00 a.m.) and Chapman (8:00 p.m.) on day one of competition before concluding the Princeton Invite with a conference game against Wagner (12:30 p.m.) on Sunday.