PRINCETON, N.J. – The No. 17 Navy water polo team (6-2) dropped a 16-12 decision to No. 7 Pacific (5-0) on Sunday morning at DeNunzio Pool on the final day of the Princeton Invitational. The Midshipmen were unable to find the back of the net in the second quarter, allowing the Tigers to take control of the game.
 
Pacific outscored Navy 6-0 in the pivotal second quarter, building a nine-goal lead at the half. The Midshipmen rallied in the second half, outscoring the Tigers 9-4 in the final two quarters of play, but were unable to overcome the early deficit.
 
"Today was tough," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "You can't let a team like Pacific outscore you 6-0 in a quarter and expect to win. That being said, we were able to regroup at halftime and fight back. I was proud of the way the team continued to battle and make the game competitive at the end."
 
Offensively, the Midshipmen were led by Luka Sekulic. The sophomore led the team with three goals, sparking Navy's comeback efforts in the third quarter. Kiefer Black, Michael Heller, and Holden Seybold each added two scores apiece, while Maddox Garrahy, Matt Mai-Prasarnsuk, and Henry Williams added one goal each. Black led the team with four assists, while Heller, Mai-Prasarnsuk, Orion Erwin and Connor Cashman each added helpers in the game.
 
At goal, Jack Hightower earned the start. The junior worked the first half between the posts finishing with three saves and a steal. He gave way to freshman Jack Rodoni who notched five stops and four goals allowed in the final two quarters of action.
 
Pacific was the first team to score, converting a five-meter opportunity. Black countered with a five-meter goal of his own to knot the game at one. The Tigers regained the lead, but Garrahy tied the game at 2-2. Pacific once again took the lead, netting a pair of goals to lead 4-2. Heller cut the margin to one, but the Tigers closed out the quarter with two scores to take a 6-3 advantage through the first quarter.
 
In the second quarter, it was all Pacific. The designated home team outscored Navy 6-0 to take a 12-3 halftime lead.
 
The Midshipmen fought back in the third quarter, outscoring the Tigers 5-1. Sekulic started the scoring with consecutive goals and Heller notched his second goal of the game. Mai-Prasarnsuk found the back of the net to cut the deficit to 12-7. Pacific ended Navy's 4-0 run with a goal, but Sekulic completed his hat trick in the quarter to head into the final quarter of play down five, 13-8.
 
In the fourth quarter, Seybold started the scoring, cutting the margin down to four. Pacific answered with a goal to extend the lead back to five goals. Seybold once again trimmed the deficit to four, but the Tigers responded with a score. Black and Williams scored back-to-back goals to close the gap to three at 15-12, but Pacific scored as time was running out to provide the final margin of 16-12.
 
Up next, the Midshipmen head to Colorado for the Rare Air Challenge hosted by Air Force on Friday, Sept. 20 through Sunday, Sept. 22. Navy will take on its service academy counterpart Air Force (Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET), while also squaring off against Concordia (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET), No. 15 Harvard (Saturday, 8:00 p.m. ET), Biola (Sunday, 12:00 p.m. ET), and Cal Lutheran (Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET).