MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 19 Navy water polo team (8-3, 1-1 MAWPC) posted a pair of victories on the first day of the Salem Invitational at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown, W.Va. The Midshipmen opened the day with a 16-7 victory over Mount St. Mary's (2-6, 0-2 MAWPC) to pull even in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference. The Mids recorded a 17-14 win in the nightcap against previously undefeated Salem (8-1).
"It's always nice to go undefeated on the day," head coach
Luis Nicolao said. "There are still some things to clean up, but our guys played hard and we were able to come away with two wins on the day. We have two more games tomorrow before heading back to Annapolis. We have to refocus and come out strong so we can take care of business while we are here."
Offensively, the Midshipmen scored 33 goals on the day with 22 assists.
Eleven different Mids scored goals with seven notching multiple scores on the day.
Kiefer Black and
Sam Collingwood led the way with six goals apiece, while fellow freshman
Aiden Day followed closely with five scores.
Hayden Kahn scored four goals on the day, including a hat trick against the Mount, while
Michael Heller and
Tommy McKnew chipped in three goals apiece.
Nathan Duchez found the back of the net twice, while
Rory Begin,
Connor Cashman,
Spencer Shelley, and
Henry Williams added one score each.
Black led the way with five assists on the day, while Begin, Day, and
Merle Richman added three helpers apiece.
Ivan Pang and Williams notched two assists each with
Caden Capobianco, Collingwood, Kahn, and
Kyle Yelensky posting one helper apiece.
Capobianco worked a majority of minutes at goal for the Mids on the day. The senior team captain finished with 16 saves and nine steals with an assist in just under two complete games of play. Capobianco had five stops in game one, adding a pair of steals. Against Salem, he notched 11 saves and seven steals with an assist.
Jack Hightower saw action in the first game against the Mount registering a save and a steal in just under seven minutes of action.
The Midshipmen close out competition in the Salem Invitational with a pair of games against McKendree (8:00 a.m.) and Gannon (3:00 p.m.) on Sunday at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown, W.Va.
Game 1 Recap: #19 Navy 16, Mount St. Mary's 7
Navy opened the day with a 16-7 victory over Mount St. Mary's for its first win in the MAWPC. The Mids led by one at the end of the first quarter, 5-4, but pulled away outscoring the Mountaineers, 11-3, in the final three periods.
"The game against the Mount was big for us," Nicolao added. "Unfortunately, we dropped our first conference game of the season, so to be able to come out and get in the win column and even our record was big and will help us out moving forward."
Day got the ball rolling with his first goal of the day. After the Mount answered, Black converted a five-meter attempt to regain the lead for Navy. Back-to-back scores by Mount St. Mary's put the Mountaineers in front by one. Duchez netted the equalizer and McKnew followed with the go-ahead goal. Day chipped in his second score of the quarter to put the Mids up by two, but a five-meter conversion by the Mount trimmed the Navy lead to just one, 5-4, through one quarter of play.
In the second quarter, the Mids used a 4-1 period to establish control of the game. Heller started the quarter with a goal, while Day completed his first-half hat trick with a score. The Mount scored, but back-to-back goals by Kahn and Black sent the game into halftime with the Mids in front, 9-5.
Mount St. Mary's started the third quarter with a goal, but Collingwood and Cashman countered with scores to put Navy in front 11-6 through three frames.
In the fourth, the Mids outscored the Mount, 5-1, to provide the final margin of 16-7. Kahn notched two goals to complete his hat trick, while Heller, McKnew, and Shelley each found the back of the net in period.
Game 2 Recap: #19 Navy 17, Salem 14
In the second game of the day, the Midshipmen battled hard and outlasted the tournament-host and previously unbeaten Salem, 17-14.
"We knew Salem was going to be a tough match up," remarked Nicolao. "Rob [Bullion] is a friend of mine who helps us out every year when we host camps. I know he is a good coach and that he would have his team prepared. Fortunately, we were able to make a couple of more plays and were able to come away with a win today."
Salem jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but Day and Kahn evened things with back-to-back scores. Black gave Navy its first lead of the game, but the Tigers evened the game at three apiece. Begin and Heller gave the Mids a two-goal edge, but the home team scored to end the period with Navy in front by just one, 5-4.
Collingwood started the second quarter with a goal to push the advantage back to two, but Salem responded with a score to trim the margin back to one. Collingwood once again scored, but the Wildcats were able to match him. Leading 7-6, Navy used goals by McKnew, Black, and Williams to push the lead to four, 10-6, at the half.
In the third quarter, Black scored back-to-back goals to extend the advantage to six. However, Salem answered with four of the next five goals to cut the Navy lead to three, 13-10. Collingwood scored the Mids' only goal during the Tigers' run.
Salem cut the margin to two, 13-11, to start the fourth quarter, but Collingwood and Black countered with consecutive scores to push the Navy lead to four, 15-11. Following a Tiger goal, Collingwood once again found the back of the net, extending the advantage back to four. Salem scored to trim the margin to three, but Day pushed the lead back to four with two minutes to play. The Tigers were able to score with one minute remaining, but the Midshipmen were able to run out the clock, securing the 17-14 victory.
