CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Needing 10 points to reach 500 career points, senior attacker Kiefer Black finished day one of the Harvard Invitational with 12 total points on nine goals and three assists to lead the No. 17-ranked United States Naval Academy water polo team to a split in a pair of games in Cambridge, Mass. at Blodgett Pool. The Midshipmen dropped a 15-10 decision to host/No. 19 Harvard before rebounding for a 17-10 victory over Long Island Universty as Black became the first player in program history to eclipse 500 career points.
“Today was special for Kiefer,” head coach Luis Nicolao said of his senior attacker. “He comes to practice every day and puts in the work. He has continued to break and set new records each and every year. I am proud of him and this accomplishment; I just wish there would’ve been two wins to go along with it instead of just one.”
“Credit to Harvard. They came out and wanted it more than us today. I am proud of the guys for rebounding against a much-improved LIU team. We will have another big test against Brown tomorrow, but we will come out ready to play and hopefully come back to Annapolis with a win.”
Black finished the day with a team-high 12 points on nine goals and three assists. The senior attacker became the first player in Navy water polo history to reach 500 career points. The San Diego native is the school’s all-time leader in points scored (502) and assists (241). Black (261 goals) is now 12 goals shy of tying Doug Munz ’95) who is second with 273 goals. Nicolao ’92) is the program’s all-time leader in goals scored with 282.
With his 12 points on the day, Black now has 71 points on the season and is 29 points away from becoming the first player in program history with four 100-point seasons.
In addition to Black, 10 other Midshipmen found the back of the net. Quinn Bartlett followed with four goals, while Billy Zech chipped in three scores. Declan Bartlett, James Mulvey and Luka Sekulic each scored twice on the day, while Orion Erwin, Colin McPhail, Declan Murphy, Hudson Parks and Jack Reif also added markers.
In the early game, the home team was able to upend the Midshipmen with the Crimson claiming a 15-10 win.
Navy jumped out to an early 2-0 lead as Q. Bartlett and Zech each found the back of the net. Harvard responded with two goals to lock the game at two through the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Midshipmen regained the lead on a Sekulic goal. The Crimson countered with a goal, but Zech gave the Mids a 4-3 advantage. Following a Harvard goal, Reif closed out the first half via a goal with one second on the clock to put Navy in front, 5-4.
Q. Bartlett gave Navy its largest lead of the game with a score to start the third quarter. Black countered a Harvard goal to put Navy in front, 7-5. Another Crimson score closed the gap, but Mulvey responded to keep the lead at two. Harvard grabbed control of the game in the second half of the third quarter, scoring four straight goals to end the frame and claim a 10-8 lead.
The Crimson continued the run with two goals to start the fourth quarter, pushing the advantage to 12-8. McPhail ended the Harvard run with a goal, but the home team pushed the advantage back to four with score. Black cut the margin to three, but Harvard closed the game with back-to-back scores to provide the final margin.
The Midshipmen rebounded in the second game of the day with a 17-10 victory versus LIU.
Black opened the scoring with back-to-back goals to put Navy in front 2-0. The Sharks cut the margin in half, but D. Bartlett and Erwin increased the Mids’ lead to three at 4-1. LIU once again found the back of the net, but Black and Q. Bartlett countered with scores to give the Midshipmen a four-goal advantage through the first quarter.
In the second quarter, LIU scored a pair of goals around a Zech tally to trim the margin to three, 7-4. Navy received goals by the Bartlett brothers to push the margin to five. Following a Shark goal, Mulvey scored to close out the half with the Midshipmen ahead 10-5.
Black and Murphy began the second half with goals to extend the Navy lead to 12-5. LIU countered with back-to-back goals to trim the margin, but Black and Sekulic increased the margin to seven. The Sharks closed out the quarter with a goal to slice the Mids lead to 14-8 through three quarters.
LIU continued its run with consecutive scores to shave the Navy advantage to 14-10. The Midshipmen countered with three goals by Black (twice) and Parks to cushion the final margin to 17-10.
Information courtesy United States Naval Academy Athletics Communications
