ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy water polo team (17-7) used a 5-0 run to start the game and never looked back as the Midshipmen posted an 18-8 victory against Iona (6-12) at Scott Natatorium on Saturday morning. In the game,
Quinn Bartlett finished with a team-high four goals, giving the sophomore over 100 points in his career, while
Kiefer Black topped the 400-point plateau in his career to become the first Mid in program history to reach that mark.
"Today was a good day," head coach
Luis Nicolao said. "It is homecoming weekend for football so we have a lot of alumni in town. We play our Alumni Game today as well. It was good to be able to come away with a good team win in front of so many of our former players who helped get us to where we are today. There were a lot of different alums from a lot of different classes in the stands and it was good to be able to represent Navy water polo well in front of them."
Bartlett entered the game with 98 total points and eclipsed the 100-point plateau with four goals, leading the Midshipmen in scoring on the day. Black, who entered the game just three points shy of 400, recorded a hat trick to become the first player in program history to hit the 400-point mark.
Billy Zech also finished the day with a hat trick, notching three scores against the Gaels.
Rory Begin, who won all three sprints he lined up for, added two goals.
Aiden Berry,
Luke Kirincich,
Matt Mai-Prasarnsuk,
Ryan Mondzelewski,
Holden Seybold, and
Jackson Snapp rounded out the goal scorers for Navy.
Ramsay Letteau Stallings led the way with three of the Mids' 13 assists on the day with
Aiden Day adding a pair of helpers.
In goal,
Jack Hightower earned the win. The senior worked the first three quarters of play, notching eight saves. He and fellow senior Begin tied for the team lead with three steals apiece. Hightower gave way to
Francis Hendrickson to start the fourth quarter. Hendrickson finished with six blocks in his quarter of action.
Navy jumped out to an early lead, using a 5-0 run to set the tone in the first quarter. Bartlett opened the scoring with a goal with Zech and Black following to put the Mids up three. Zech and Bartlett each found the back of the net for a second time in the period to extend the advantage to 5-0. Iona was able to trim the margin with a goal, but Navy lead 5-1 through one period of play.
In the second quarter, the Midshipmen pushed their advantage to as many as eight, taking a 9-1 and 10-2 lead. Black opened the period with a goal, while Seybold buried a strike into the back of the net. Begin followed with a slam in front of the cage, while Bartlett completed the first-half hat trick with his third score of the morning to make the advantage 9-1. The Gaels scored to cut the margin to seven, but Mai-Prasarnsuk responded to extend the lead back to eight, 10-2. Iona used consecutive goals to cut the Navy advantage to six, 10-4, at the half.
The Mids outscored the Gaels, 6-1, in the third quarter to take a double-digit lead. Bartlett continued his strong performance in the game with another goal. Begin and Black followed with back-to-back scores to push the margin to nine, 13-4. Following an Iona goal, Navy closed out the frame with a 3-0 run thanks to goals by Zech, Kirincich, and Snapp to take a 16-5 lead into the final quarter of play.
In the fourth, Iona notched back-to-back goals to trim the Navy lead back to single digits, however, Berry and Mondzelewski responded to push the advantage back to 11. The Gaels cut the Mids' lead to 10 with a goal and the Midshipmen were able to rely on solid defense and milk the clock to earn an 18-8 victory.
Up next, the Midshipmen continue the homestand with three games. The Mids welcome Wagner to Lejeune Hall on Saturday, Nov. 1 for a MAWPC game at 6:00 p.m. The Midshipmen continue the weekend against defending conference champion Fordham on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 11:00 a.m. before concluding the weekend with Johns Hopkins on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on Navy Athletics YouTube.
