ANNAPOLIS, Md. — No. 20-ranked/host the United States Naval Academy held off a resurgent George Washington University squad by a 10-9 score in the semifinals of the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship at home in Lejeune Hall to return the Midshipmen to the conference title game.
Navy (22-9, 12-4 MAWPC) will face No. 3/MAWPC regular season champion/2021, 2022, 2023 MAWPC Champion Fordham University at 1:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, November 24, for the league crown and an automatic berth to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship. The Midshipmen have not tasted victory in a conference title game since 2008 when the squad took down Princeton University and Dick Russell Coach of the Tournament Luis Nicolao by a 9-6 count at home in Lejeune Hall for the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) title. Fast forward 16-years and the Mids will attempt a return to glory in a familiar location under former Princeton head coach, Naval Academy alum and CWPA Hall of Fame member Nicolao.
A nine-time league champion (1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008) and eight-time runner-up (1984, 1991, 1994, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011) under CWPA Hall of Fame member Mike Schofield, Navy’s title game clash with the Rams is nothing new. In Annapolis under Nicolao, the Midshipmen fell to Fordham by a 9-6 count for the 2021 league crown. Last year at Bucknell University, Navy once again again came up short versus Fordham in a 12-10 title game loss.
In the team’s seven most recent tries at acquiring the MAWPC title, Navy has claimed Second (2021 at home; 2023 at Bucknell), Third (2019 at Bucknell), Fifth (2017 at home; 2022 at Fordham) and Sixth (2016 at Bucknell, 2018 at Fordham) Place marks.
Navy is 0-2 this year versus Fordham as the Mids’ dropped 17-11 (September 28 at Fordham) and 18-10 L (November 2 at home) contests to the Rams.
Taking on GW (16-9, 12-4 MAWPC) for the third time after being sunk by the Revolutionaries at Long Bridge Park Aquatics & Fitness Center on October 25 in a 13-12 loss and returning the favor with an 11-7 win on November 9 in Annapolis, the Midshipmen jumped on the scoreboard first as Billy Zech (So., Tiburon, Calif./Redwood) zinged in a shot with 6:25 to play in the first quarter.
GW responded in short order as Yam Kabakov (Fr., Ramat Gan, Israel/Ohel-Shem) and Andrija Sekulic (Sr., Belgrade, Serbia/Savramena Gimnazija) put away man-up (4:39) and penalty shot (3:59) strikes, respectively, to place the Revolutionaries ahead 2-1 for the program’s first and only lead of the contest.
Navy erased its deficit prior to the conclusion of the opening frame as Holden Seybold (Jr., Aliso Viejo, Calif./Laguna Beach) snapped in a shot with 2:03 remaining in the eight-minute stretch to square the squads at two-all.
A 2-1 spurt in the second quarter allowed Navy to carry a 4-3 lead into halftime.
Quinn Bartlett (Fr., Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) put Navy back in front at 3-2 at the 4:17 mark, but Adonis Vlassis (Jr., Athens, Greece/Lycee Franco-Hellenique Euguene DeLacroix Athens) delivered an equalizer at 3:24 to balance the scoreboard at three-all. A man-up tally by Matt Mai-Prasarnsuk (Fr., Villa Park, Calif./Orange Lutheran) with 2:24 until intermission pushed Navy back into the lead at 4-3 heading into halftime.
In the third quarter, Leo Lueddemann (Sr, Danville, Calif./Monte Vista) netted a game-tying man-up tally (6:06) to even the damage at four-all, but Navy pushed ahead at 5-4 via a volley from Kiefer Black (So., San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) at 5:14. The Revs returned fire at 4:56 courtesy a man-up score by Sekulic to level the field at five-all, but the Midshipmen torpedoed GW’s attempts at a scoring rally with one of their own as Luka Sekulic (So., Haverford, Pa./The Haverford School) (4:39), Seybold (2:36, man-up) and Black (six seconds) dented the twine to stake the Mids to an 8-5 margin through 24 minutes of action.
Two-goal runs marked the fourth quarter as man-up scores by Kabakov with 7:20 and 6:14 left on the clock narrowed the gap between the two programs to 8-7. Navy answered with back-to-back markers by Zech (5:19) and Michael Heller (Sr., Menlo Park, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) (2:47, man-up) to return the margin to three at 10-7 before Vlassis (2:06, man-up) and Kabakov (1:17) delivered the final offensive blows in a GW rally that fell one successful shot short of forcing overtime.
For Navy, Seybold, Black and Zech all accounted for pairs of goals with Bartlett, Sekulic, Heller and Mai-Prasarnsuk slipping in solo markers. Goalkeeper/Player of the Game Ryan Munch (Fr., San Diego, Calif./Valhalla) collected the victory with 11 saves.
The 2017 and 2018 MAWPC Champion, George Washington received a game-high four goals from Kabakov to go along with pairs by Sekulic and Vlassis. Lueddemann notched a single score and netminder Luca Castorina (Gr., Catania, Sicily/Liceo Galileo Galilei) turned aside 10 Midshipmen scoring attempts.
GW – which was seeking the program’s fifth MAWPC Championship title game berth following pairs of titles (2017, 2018) and runner-up (2016, 2019) finishes – will aim to add a fourth Third Place finish to a legacy featuring more recent Third (2020/Winter 2021; 2021; 2022) and Fifth (2023) Place marks when the Revolutionaries take on Wagner College at Noon on Sunday, November 24, in the Third Place game.
The game will mark the third meeting of the year between the programs as George Washington turned back the Seahawks by a 13-12 count on September 28 in Staten Island, N.Y., prior to picking up an 8-7 neutral site/home win on November 2 at The St. James in Springfield, Va.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| George Washington University |
2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | – | 9 |
| No. 20 United States Naval Academy | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | – | 10 |
| Navy Goals: | Holden Seybold (2); Kiefer Black (2); Billy Zech (2); Quinn Bartlett; Luka Sekulic; Michael Heller; Matt Mai-Prasarnsuk | |||||
| GW Goals: | Yam Kabakov (4); Andrija Sekulic (2); Adonis Vlassis (2); Leo Lueddemann | |||||
| Saves: | Navy – Ryan Munch (11); GW – Luca Castorina (10) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Navy – 16 ; GW – 11 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Navy – 3-for-11 ; GW – 7-for-16 | |||||
| Sprints: | Navy – 3-for-4 (2nd, 3rd, 4th); GW – 1-for-4 (1st) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – Navy (Head coach Luis Nicolao, 3:31 left in 3rd Q); YC – ; GW (Head coach Barry King, 51 seconds left in 3rd Q); MAM – GW (Andrei Khudiakov, 5:45 left in 4th Q) | |||||
| Officials: | James Wolff, Alex High | |||||
George Washington University goalkeeper Luca Castorina (#1) & the United States Naval Academy’s Quinn Bartlett (#17)
George Washington University’s Andrei Khudiakov (#16) scans the tank as the United States Naval Academy’s Orion Erwin (#2) defends
The United States Naval Academy’s Henry Williams (#8) menaces George Washington University’s Antonio Florena (#18)
