ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The #15 Navy water polo team (12-2, 3-0 MAWPC) continues conference play in New York this weekend. The Midshipmen will travel to the Bronx to take on #5 Fordham (11-1, 3-0 MAWPC) at the Col. Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 3:00 p.m. before concluding the weekend in Staten Island to face Wagner (6-11, 1-1 MAWPC) at the Spiro Sports Center on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 10:00 a.m.
Saturday's game against the Rams will be broadcast on
YouTube, while Sunday's game against the will be streamed on
NEC Front Row.
Social Media
For more information on Navy water polo, follow the team on Instagram (
@NavyWaterPolo), X (
@NavyWaterPolo), and Facebook (
@NavyWaterPolo).
Milestone Watch
Kiefer Black began the 2026 season with 233 career goals. The senior enters the weekend in third place in program history with 249 in the category behind Doug Munz ('95) who is second with 273 goals. Navy head coach
Luis Nicolao ('92) is the program's all-time leader in goals scored with 282.
Black is the all-time leader in Navy history in career points with 480, while also sitting atop the Midshipmen annals with 231 assists. After entering the season with 198 assists, the San Diego native finished the Navy Open with eight helpers to become the first player in program history with 200 or more assists.
Several additional Midshipmen are also approaching some career milestones.
Junior
Orion Erwin is two points shy of 100 for his career with 98, while senior team captain
Connor Cashman is five points away from the 100-point plateau with 95. Senior
Billy Zech and junior
Austin Kahn enter the weekend with 91 and 83 points, respectively.
Senior
Luka Sekulic and junior
Quinn Bartlett became the most recent Midshipmen to score 100 career goals. Sekulic hit the 100-goal plateau during the Mids' trip to Irvine, California, while Q. Bartlett topped 100 career goals at Bucknell. Senior
Aiden Day has 90 scores heading into the weekend, while Zech is 16 goals shy of his 100th career goal with 84.
Head coach
Luis Nicolao is also approaching his own milestone – 1,000 career wins. Overall, Nicolao has 146 wins at Navy (men) and 844 victories at Princeton (402 men, 442 women) for a total of 990.
Nicolao, who is the NCAA's active leader in wins, would become just the second coach in NCAA history with 1,000 or more victories, joining Jovan Vavic from USC wo had 1,146 overall (575 men, 571 women).
Nicolao's 548 victories on the men's water polo side, places his fifth all-time in men's competition behind Denny Harper (697), Mike Schofield (630), Ted Newland (575), and Jovan Vavic (575).
Scouting the Midshipmen
The Navy water polo team enters the weekend 12-2 overall with a 3-0 mark in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference. Last week, the Midshipmen posted a 2-0 record – defeating Mercyhurst (W, 20-4) and Bucknell (W, 15-8).
Kiefer Black leads the team with 49 points on 16 goals and a team-best 33 assists. He is followed by
Quinn Bartlett who has 41 points on a team-high 32 goals and nine assists.
Declan Bartlett has 25 goals with seven assists for 32 total points.
James Mulvey (11g 14a) and
Luka Sekulic (17g 7a) round out the top-5 point scorers with 25 and 24, respectively.
Aiden Day (7g 16a),
Connor Cashman (11g 11a),
Maximus Arnold (12g 9a), and
Aiden Berry (16g 4a) closing out the 20-point scorers with 23, 22, 21, and 20 in order.
Jack Reif (11g 4a),
Tanner Lustig (5g 9a),
Declan Murphy (11g 2a),
Billy Zech (9g 2a),
Jack Pointner (9g 1a),
Austin Kahn (3g 7a), and
Colin McPhail (4g 6a) close out Navy's double-digit point scorers.
Defensively, Navy used three goalkeepers –
Ryan Munch,
Jack Rodoni, and
Oren Penning. Munch leads the team with 87 saves, while Rodoni and Penning follow with 31 and 27 stops, respectively.
Munch leads the team with 20 steals with Mulvey following with 12 takeaways. Black, Lustig, and Rodoni round out the Mids' top-5 in the category with nine apiece. Q. Bartlett leads the team with 29 ejections drawn with Reif following with 23. Black and Zech are next with 16 apiece, while McPhail rounds out the top-5 with 14. Murphy (14) and Mulvey (10) close out the Midshipmen's double-digits in the category.
Scouting the Opposition
Fordham enters the weekend 11-1 overall with the Rams' lone defeat coming on the road at #1 UCLA (L, 16-11) on Sept. 25. Fordham is 3-0 in conference play this season, extending its' conference winning streak to 48 straight regular season wins over MAWPC opponents. Prior to taking on Navy, Fordham will host Wagner (Friday, 6:00 p.m.) and #9 Princeton (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.).
Wagner is 6-11 overall and 1-1 heading into the weekend. Last weekend, the Seahawks defeated Iona (W, 16-13). Wagner will take on Fordham on Friday night before hosting the Midshipmen on Sunday morning.
Athletes of the Week
The Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) announced its weekly awards and Navy earned a pair of league honors.
Colin McPhail was named Defensive Player of the Week, while
Tanner Lustig earned Rookie of the Week distinction. The duo helped Navy to a 2-0 record – defeating Mercyhurst (W, 20-4) and Bucknell (W, 15-8).
McPhail played in both games, anchoring the defense which held a pair of opponents to single-digit goals, including holding Mercyhurst to just four goals – a season-low goals allowed by the Midshipmen defense. The freshman had the best +/- on the team over the weekend. He had six earned exclusions – two of which were converted to penalties. McPhail recorded four steals with no turnovers or fouls. Additionally, he added a pair of assists at Bucknell.
Lustig tied for the team lead with six points on the weekend. The freshman finished with six assists against Mercyhurst, while also adding six steals against the Lakers. He helped anchor a Navy defense that limited Mercyhurst to four points, which was a season-low goals allowed by the Midshipmen defense. Lustig saw limited time in the game against Bucknell, helping Navy hold the Bison to single digit goals.
Up Next
Following the games against Fordham and Wagner, the Midshipmen step out of conference to play in the Brown / Harvard Invitational. Navy will take on Harvard (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.) and LIU (Saturday, 4:30 a.m.) in Cambridge, Mass., before concluding the weekend against Brown (Sunday, 11:30 a.m.) in Providence, R.I.
