ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy water polo team (8-6) hosts Air Force (11-3) for the Freedom Vase on Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. in Lejeune Hall. The game between the two service academy rivals will be live streamed on the Navy Athletics YouTube channel with Tim Nolan handling the play-by-play action. Admission to the game is FREE.
 
Social Media
For more information on Navy water polo, follow the team on Instagram (@NavyWaterPolo), X (@NavyWaterPolo), and Facebook (@NavyWaterPolo).
 
Accessing the USNA
The USNA is closed to all vehicles without a Department of Defense-approved identification card. All other visitors are encouraged to park downtown and walk through the security gates at Gate 1. When walking on, those ages 18 and over must present a photo identification card (driver's license) to gain access and those ages 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
 
The Freedom Vase
In 2009, Bruce Hopping with the Kalos Kagathos Foundation in Laguna Beach, Calif. created an award – the Freedom Vase – which he made in the hopes that Air Force and Navy would play an annual game and the winner would receive.
 
Hopping founded Kalos Kagathos with the goal "to put athletic fitness on a pedestal by creating sport-inspired statues and statuettes, much like the Greeks, 'whose sculptures are a testament to the beauty of the human form and the grace of competition.'" Hopping's goal was to have the two teams play each Fall and have the Vase on the line to represent "physical distinction, nobility of mind," which he believed blended well into the values of each Academy.
 
Navy and Air Force will meet for the 37th time in series history on Thursday evening. The Midshipmen hold a 25-11 advantage in the all-time series, including a 19-18 sudden-victory overtime win against the Falcons last season in Colorado Springs. It was the second consecutive win for the Midshipmen in the series. Prior to the Mids' victory in 2023, the Falcons had won the two previous meetings, including a 13-12 sudden-death overtime game in 2022 at Air Force.
 
The two teams have played each other regularly, but, generally, Air Force and Navy squared off against one another at a neutral site. Prior to the 2021 season, the two programs agreed to make the games against one another a home-and-home series alternating who hosts each year. The 2021 meeting in Annapolis was the first time since 2009 that the two teams met at a home site, while 2022's game in Colorado Springs marked the first time since 2006 that the two teams met at Air Force.
 
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 343 points on 192 goals and 151 assists.
 
Black enters the week in fourth place in program history with 343 points and is 13 points back of Greg Mendenhall ('97) who is third with 356. Navy head coach Luis Nicolao ('92) 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. With 192 goals entering the week, he ranks 10th and is one goal shy of Alex Ratcliffe ('06) who stands in ninth-place with 193 goals and six score shy of Tom Popp ('89) who finished his career with 198. Black is eight goals back of becoming the eighth player in program history with 200 or more goals.  
 
The junior is the all-time assists leader in Navy history with 151, 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 (113 points in 1993; 184 points in 1994) as the only players in program history with multiple 100-point seasons. Through 14 games, Black has 47 points in 2025.
 
Navy Sports Magazine
Senior Rory Begin joined Tim Nolan on the Navy Sports Magazine to preview water polo's showdown with Air Force for the Freedom Vase this Thursday. Watch Here
 
Athletes of the Week
The Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference announced its weekly awards and a pair of Navy student-athletes received honors. Junior attacker Kiefer Black was named Offensive Player of the Week, while freshman center Jack Reif claimed Rookie of the Week. The duo helped lead Navy to a 4-2 record at the Navy Open.
 
Black led the Midshipmen with a team-high 25 points on a team-best 17 goals; while adding a team-high eight assists and notching three hat tricks in four total games played. Reif was the Mids' top freshman with 10 points on nine goals and an assist, notching a pair of hat tricks.
 
National Ranking
The Midshipmen enter the week receiving votes in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association national poll. The Mids began the 2025 season ranked 20th in the preseason poll, rising as high as 17th. Last season, the Mids were ranked or receiving votes each week of the year, starting during the preseason poll.
 
Scouting the Midshipmen
Following a 4-2 performance at the Navy Open over the weekend, Navy enters the week 8-6 overall and 2-0 in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference.
 
Kiefer Black leads the team with 47 points on a team-high 30 goals and team-best 17 assists. He is followed by James Mulvey and Aiden Day who have 29 and 25 points, respectively. Mulvey has his 29 points on 19 goals and 10 assists, while Day has a balanced 13 goals and 12 assists for his 25 points. Connor Cashman rounds out Navy's 20-point performers with 20 points on 17 goals and three helpers. Aiden Berry is one point back with 19 on 14 goals and five assists, while Quinn Bartlett (12g 6a) and Orion Erwin (11g 7a) are tied with 18 points apiece. Jack Reif closes out the Mids' double-digit goal scorers with 15 goals and an assist for 16 points.
 
Defensively, Navy used three goalkeepers – Ryan Munch, Jack Rodoni, and Jack Hightower. Munch leads the team with 56 saves, while Rodoni and Hightower follow with 27 and 21 stops, respectively.
 
Munch leads the team with 23 steals with Berry following with 14 takeaways. Black and Jack Mason are next with 12 steals apiece with Ramsay Letteau Stallings rounding out Navy's top five in takeaways with 10. Billy Zech leads the team with 20 ejections drawn with Maddox Garrahy and Reif tying for second on the team with 18 apiece. Holden Seybold adds 13 ejections drawn, while Black follows with 12. Bartlett is just outside of the Midshipmen's top five this season in ejections drawn with 10 to close out Navy's double-digit performers in kickouts drawn.
 
Scouting the Opposition
Air Force enters the week with an 11-3 overall record. Air Force went 1-2 at the Cal State Fullerton Titan Invitational. The Falcons opened with a 20-17 win over Chapman before falling to #18 Brown, 18-15.  Air Force dropped its Saturday match to Concordia, 15-14. The Falcons were down two starters and a key reserve in the setback to Concordia.
 
Junior utility Tom Leggett leads the Falcons in points with 94 on a team-best 65 goals with 29 assists. He is closing in on the Air Force goals and points records. He is 17 goals and 22 points shy of the Air Force school records, both held by former Falcon Ben Phillips ('75).
 
Last Time vs. Air Force (Sept. 20, 2024)
#17 Navy outlasted Air Force in sudden-death overtime, 19-18, in a back-and-forth contest on the first day of the Rare Air Challenge to retain possession of the Freedom Vase. Knotted at 18-18, freshman Maddox Garrahy gave the Midshipmen a one-goal victory over their rivals with his fifth goal of the game.
 
Navy was led by its youth throughout the game. The Midshipmen's underclassmen combined for 16 of the 19 goals scored, including Garrahy's game-winning goal. Garrahy finished with a team-high five goals, while freshman Quinn Bartlett (3 goals) and sophomores Kiefer Black (3) and Luka Sekulic (3) each added hat tricks. Freshman Orion Erwin and sophomore Billy Zech rounded out the underclassmen scoring with one goal apiece while senior Michael Heller and junior Holden Seybold had two goals and one goal, respectively, for the upperclassmen.
 
At goal, freshman Jack Rodoni earned the victory. The rookie relieved starter Jack Hightower at halftime and worked the second half and overtime periods. Rodoni finished the game with nine stops while Hightower notched five saves. Hightower led the team with three steals while Seybold and freshman Matt Mai-Prasarnsuk added two takeaways apiece.
 
Up Next
Following the game with Air Force, the Midshipmen resume Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference play with three home games on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 27-28. Navy will take on Mercyhurst (11:00 a.m.) and Mount St. Mary's (5:00 p.m.) on Saturday, Sept. 27 in Scott Natatorium before concluding the weekend on Sunday, Sept. 28 against Bucknell (11:00 a.m.) in Lejeune Hall. All three games will be live streamed on YouTube.