ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 18-ranked United States Naval Academy men’s water polo team began the 2024 campaign with victories over Salem University, 13-9, and Gannon University, 20-8, before stopping Mount St. Mary’s University, 21-7, in the Midshipmen’s Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) opener on the first day of the Navy Open at home in Lejeune Hall. Fourteen different Midshipmen found the back of the net on the day, including a dozen who notched multiple scores.
“This was a great way to start the season,” head coach Luis Nicolao said at the end of the day. “We were able to come out today and come away with three victories. We were able to get a lot of people into the games, including a lot of our newcomers to give them their first taste of collegiate action. We had a lot of people contribute to our success today and we need to take this momentum into tomorrow.”
Sophomore Kiefer Black picked up where he left off after his freshman season that saw him earn All-America honors. The second-year attacker led the team with nine goals, while freshman Maddox Garrahy followed with seven goals in his first day of collegiate action. Senior Michael Heller and sophomores Luka Sekulic and Billy Zech added five goals apiece with freshmen Ethan Gao and Matt Mai-Prasarnsuk notched four goals each. Freshmen Orion Erwin and Austin Kahn, along with Holden Seybold, chipped in three goals each with freshman Quinn Bartlett (two goals), senior Henry Williams (two goals), freshman Jack Clark and senior Tommy McKnew rounding out the scoring.
At goal, junior Jack Hightower, freshman Jack Rodoni and freshman Ryan Much each earned starts. Hightower earned the start in the first game of the year against Salem, while Rodoni earned his first collegiate start Gannon and Much took the honors against the Mount.
In Navy’s season-opener, Salem jumped out to a 2-0 lead but goals by Williams and Erwin knotted the game at two-all through one quarter of play. Black gave Navy its first lead of the day, but back-to-back goals by the Tigers gave the visitors a one-goal lead. Heller tied the game, but Salem regained the advantage. McKnew and Bartlett gave the Mids a 6-5 lead at the half.
Navy outscored Salem 3-2 in the third quarter to push the lead to 9-7. Zech, Seybold, and Heller each had goals in the span. The Tigers trimmed the margin to one, but four straight goals by Sekulic, Black, Erwin, and Heller put the game out of reach.
The Midshipmen improved to 2-0 on the season with a 12-point victory over Gannon. The Mids opened the game with a 6-0 run, taking a 6-1 lead into the second quarter. Navy pushed its advantage to 11-1 before heading into halftime in front 12-5. Through three quarters, the Mids led 18-6 before posting the 20-8 victory. Black led the team with five goals, while Garrahy added four scores.
Navy closed out the first day of competition with a decisive conference victory over Mount St. Mary’s. Black gave the Mids a 1-0 advantage, but the Mountaineers quickly knotted the score at one apiece. Black began an 11-0 run that gave Navy a 12-1 advantage and the Mids never looked back. The Midshipmen pushed the advantage to 15-3 at the half and 19-4 through three quarters. The home team added a pair of scores in the fourth to provide the final margin of 21-7.
Release courtesy United States Naval Academy Athletics Communications
