PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The No. 20 Navy water polo team (14-7, 4-2 MAWPC) finished the Brown / Harvard Invitational 2-2 over the weekend at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center in Providence, R.I. The Midshipmen opened the weekend with an 18-10 victory over MAWPC foe Mercyhurst on Saturday morning before being edged 10-9 by No. 19 Brown in Saturday afternoon action. On Sunday, the Mids posted a 17-14 win over UC Merced to start the day before dropping a 16-13 decision to No. 13 San Jose State in their final game of the tournament.
"We are leaving Providence with a couple of wins," head coach
Luis Nicolao said. "We started off slow in all four games, but I am proud of how the team continued to battle regardless what the score was. Moving forward, we need to come out with a little bit more urgency, but I think if we continue to play tough defense and continue to battle, we will continue to have success down the stretch."
Thirteen (13) different Midshipmen found the back of the net over the weekend.
Orion Erwin led the way with 10 scores, while
Kiefer Black,
Michael Heller, and
Matt Mai-Prasarnsuk added seven scores apiece.
Billy Zech added six goals with
Maddox Garrahy chipping in five.
Sam Collingwood,
Austin Kahn, and
Luka Sekulic scored three goals apiece with
Jack Clark and
Holden Seybold adding two scores each.
Jack Hightower and
Henry Williams rounded out the scoring with one goal each.
The Mids used a trio of goalies during the weekend.
Ryan Munch led the team with 20 saves over the weekend, including 11 stops against San Jose State.
Jack Rodoni finished the weekend with eight saves while
Jack Hightower added four stops.
Up next, Navy is set for a trio of Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference games. The Mids travel to Arlington, Va. to take on George Washington on Friday, Oct. 25, before hosting Mount St. Mary's Saturday, Oct. 26 and Bucknell on Sunday, Oct. 27 at Lejeune Hall. The Midshipmen's home games will be streamed on the Navy Athletics YouTube Channel.
Saturday Game 1 Recap: #20 Navy 18, Mercyhurst 10
Navy opened up the tournament by picking up a Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference victory over league newcomer Mercyhurst, besting the Lakers 18-10.
Thanks to three goals by Black, the Mids jumped out to a 7-5 lead in the first quarter that they would not relinquish. The Midshipmen increased their advantage to 15-7 at the half with Garrahy scoring three goals in the second period to lead the designated home team. All things were going Navy's way as Hightower's heave towards the goal to end the first half found the back of the net for the goalkeeper's first collegiate goal.
The two teams matched one another 3-3 over the final 16 minutes of play as Navy posted its first win of the weekend.
Saturday Game 2 Recap: #19 Brown 10, #20 Navy 9
In the second game of the day, Navy and Brown battled in an instant classic, ultimately being edged by one to the home team, 10-9.
The Bears jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first quarter, but Erwin trimmed the margin to two to end the first quarter down, 3-1. Brown scored a pair of goals around a Black score to extend the margin back to three, 5-2, but Sekulic and Erwin cut the deficit to one to head into halftime down 5-4.
Zech opened the third quarter with the game-tying goal, but back-to-back scores by the Bears gave Brown a two-goal advantage. Erwin cut the margin to one and Zech once again knotted the score as the Mids countered with two goals of their own. Following a Brown goal, Mai-Prasarnsuk once again tied the game, sending the contest into the final quarter tied at 8-8. In the fourth quarter, Black gave Navy its first lead of the game, but Brown was able to respond with the game-tying goal before ultimately scoring the game-winning goal late in the quarter.
Sunday Game 1 Recap: #20 Navy 17, UC Merced 14
On the second day of competition, the Midshipmen posted a 17-14 victory over UC Merced in the first game of the day.
Navy jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, but UC Merced battled back to end the first quarter with the Mids in front 4-3. Four different Midshipmen scored in the first quarter. Three more Mids found the back of the net in the second quarter, including Erwin who led the charge with three goals, as Navy went into halftime with a 9-5 lead over UC Merced.
In the third quarter, the Bearcats took advantage of a down period for the Midshipmen, outscoring Navy 7-3 to tie the game at 12-12. UC Merced took advantage of some defensive miscues to battle back into the game. However, the fourth quarter was almost all Navy. The Mids regained the lead opening the final period with three straight goals. Following a Bearcat score, the Midshipmen pushed the advantage to 17-13. UC Merced scored in the final seconds to provide the final margin of 17-14.
Sunday Game 2 Recap: #13 San Jose State 16, #20 Navy 13
Navy closed out the weekend dropping a 16-13 decision to San Jose State. The Midshipmen fell behind 7-1, but battled back to close the gap to as little as two (13-11) before ultimately falling by three.
San Jose State jumped out to an early 4-1 lead through one quarter before pushing the advantage to 7-1 before Navy cut the margin to 7-3. The Mids trailed 8-3 at the half with three different players notching goals.
The Spartans extended their advantage to 10-3 in the third quarter before the Midshipmen mounted a comeback. The Mids outscored the Spartans 4-1 through the final minutes of the third to trim the margin to 11-7. In the fourth quarter, Navy used a 4-2 run to cut the deficit to 13-11, but three straight goals by San Jose State pushed the lead to 16-11. The Mids were able to find the back of the net twice in the final minutes to provide the final margin of 16-13.
