ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy water polo team (12-7, 5-1) return to the pool this weekend at the Hallman Aquatic Center in Erie, Pa. for three games, including a pair of Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) contests. The Midshipmen open the weekend against host school Mercyhurst (0-12, 0-8) on Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. before taking on Gannon (9-7) at 1:00 p.m. On Sunday, the Mids conclude the weekend with Bucknell (7-10, 4-4) at 10:00 a.m.
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@NavyWaterPolo), and Facebook (
@NavyWaterPolo).
Scouting the Midshipmen
Navy enters the weekend 12-7 overall and 5-1 in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference.
Kiefer Black leads the team with 79 points on a team-high 49 goals and team-best 30 assists. He is followed by
Aiden Day and
James Mulvey who have 42 and 38 points, respectively. Day has 23 goals and 19 assists, while Mulvey has 22 goals and 16 assists.
Quinn Bartlett and
Connor Cashman round out Navy's top five. Bartlett has 28 points on 17 goals and 11 assists, while Cashman has 25 points on 21 goals and four helpers.
Luka Sekulic,
Aiden Berry,
Orion Erwin, and
Rory Begin close out the Mids' 20-point performers. Sekulic has 24 points on 17 goals and seven assists with Berry (15g 6a) and Erwin (12g 9a) follow with 21 points apiece. Begin closes out the 20-point scorers with 20 points on 12 goals and eight assists.
Defensively, Navy has used three goalkeepers –
Ryan Munch,
Jack Rodoni, and
Jack Hightower – through the season. Munch leads the team with 89 saves, while Rodoni and Hightower follow with 36 and 26 stops, respectively.
Munch leads the team with 26 steals with
Jack Mason, Berry, and Black following with 17, 16, and 16 takeaways, correspondingly. Rodoni,
Ramsay Letteau Stallings, and
Holden Seybold round out Navy's top five in takeaways tied with 13 apiece.
Billy Zech leads the team with 29 ejections drawn with
Maddox Garrahy,
Jack Reif, and Seybold following with 27, 25, and 24, individually. Black follows with 19 to close out the top five. Bartlett is just outside of the Midshipmen's top five this season in ejections drawn with 16 and Erwin has 13 to close out Navy's double-digit performers in kickouts drawn.
Scouting the Opposition
Mercyhurst: The Lakers enter the weekend 0-12 overall with an 0-8 mark in conference play. Last weekend, Mercyhurst dropped a pair of MAWPC games, falling to Bucknell, 21-9, and Mount St. Mary's, 13-9, in Lewisburg, pa.
Gannon: The Golden Knights are 9-7 on the season after winning six of their last seven game. Last weekend, Gannon won three out of four games at the WWPA Bearcat Clash. The Golden Knights defeated Salem (W, 21-15), Ottawa University Arizona (W, 14-12), and McKendree (W, 15-14), while dropping a game to Augustana College (L, 11-9).
Bucknell: The Bison enter the weekend 7-10 overall and 4-4 in MAWPC play. Last weekend, Bucknell won a pair of games, defeating Mercyhurst, 21-9, and Mount St. Mary's, 13-9. The Bison, who only play one game in Erie, are on a three-game winning streak.
Milestone Watch
Kiefer Black began the 2025 season with 296 points on 162 goals and 134 assists. With 13 points at the Triton Invitational, he became the seventh player in program history with 300 or more career points. The junior currently has 375 points on 211 goals and 164 assists.
Black enters the weekend in second place in program history with 375 points and is two (2) points back of current Navy head coach
Luis Nicolao ('92), who is the program's all-time leader in points with 377.
Additionally, with 17 goals at the Navy Open, the San Diego native entered Navy's all-time top 10 in career goals. On Sept. 27 against Mount St. Mary's, Black became the eighth player in program history with 200 or more goals. With 211 goals entering the weekend, he ranks seventh and is seven (7) goals shy of Joe Donahue ('04) who stands in sixth-place with 218 goals and is 11 scores shy of Tom Temple ('88) who finished his career with 222.
The junior is already the all-time assists leader in Navy history with 164, passing Tom Popp ('89) who had 139 career helpers for the record.
Last season, Black registered his second consecutive 100-point season (125 points in 2023; 171 points in 2024), joining Nicolao (118 point in 1990; 114 points in 1991) and Doug Munz ('95 – 113 points in 1993; 184 points in 1994) as the only players in program history with multiple 100-point seasons. This season, Black has 79 points on 49 goals and 30 assists.
Up Next
Following the games this weekend, the Midshipmen return home for a pair of games. The Mids welcome George Washington to Lejeune Hall on Friday, Oct. 24 for a MAWPC game before concluding the weekend with Iona at Scott Natatorium on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 9:00 a.m. The game against the Gaels will be broadcast on Navy Athletics YouTube.
