LEWISBURG, Pa. — The No. 18-ranked United States Naval Academy water polo team defeated tournament-host Bucknell University at Kinney Natatorium to advance to the 2023 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship title game. The Mids trailed 7-4 at halftime, but used stellar defense and timely offense to outscore the Bison, 6-2, in the second half to earn the 10-9 victory.
With the win, Navy advances to the MAWPC Championship to take on No. 15 Fordham University at Noon on Sunday, November 19, while Bucknell will compete in the Third Place game versus Wagner College – which lost to Fordham by a 23-12 count – at 10:30 a.m.
The game will be the second title game in the last three seasons for the Midshipmen. Navy and Fordham squared off in the 2021 title game, which was held in Annapolis. The Rams won 9-6 to claim their first of two consecutive conference championships.
“I can’t say enough about our defense tonight,” head coach Luis Nicolao said after the game. “The defense held Bucknell to just two goals in the second half and Caden blocked two five-meter shots, which was huge. Throughout the year, you are going to have off nights, and tonight, we had an off night offensively. Our defense was able to keep the game within reach to allow our offense to do what it needed for us to win.
“Even with as great as tonight’s win was, we still have one more game to go,” Nicolao added. “Tomorrow will be tough, but no matter what, we are going to give it our all until the final whistle blows.”
Caden Capobianco worked a complete game at goal, earning the victory. The senior team captain registered 13 saves on the night, while holding the potent Bucknell offense to single-digit goals. He recorded two of Navy’s six steals in the night, while Nathan Duchez and Ivan Pang matched Capobianco with two takeaways apiece. Tommy McKnew led the team with three exclusions drawn, while Hayden Kahn added a pair of ejections drawn.
Offensively, Navy scored 10 goals with 10 different Midshipmen finding the back of the net. McKnew, Pang, Rory Begin, Kiefer Black, Connor Cashman, Sam Collingwood, Aiden Day, Michael Heller, Holden Seybold and Henry Williams all scored in the game. Capobianco and Collingwood led the team with two assists apiece with Black adding a helper.
Bucknell was the first team to score, taking an early 1-0 lead. Cashman evened the score at one, but the Bison responded with a go-ahead goal. Pang knotted the game at 2-2 and the game remained tied heading into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the home team recaptured a lead, netting back-to-back goals to go ahead 4-2. Begin ended he mini-run with a goal off the hands of the goalie to trim the margin to one. Once again, Navy tied the score with Heller providing the equalizer to make the score, 4-4. Bucknell retook the advantage, scoring goals on three consecutive trips down the pool to take a three-score lead, 7-4, into halftime.
Seybold started the second half with a goal to pull Navy to within two. Following a block by Capobianco on a five-meter attempt, Black converted a five-meter attempt of his own to pull the Midshipmen to within one. Capobianco made a stop on defense, but Bucknell picked up the loose ball and was able to score off the deflection to go up 8-6. Collingwood pulled the Mids to within one. With 35 seconds remaining in the quarter, McKnew scored the equalizer to tie the game at 8-8.
Navy took its first lead of the game in the fourth quarter as Williams broke an 8-8 tie to put the Mids in front, 9-8. The lead didn’t last long as Bucknell responded with the equalizer 20 seconds later. The score remained tied until Day scored with 3:19 to play to put the Midshipmen in front, 10-9. Navy relied on solid defense to keep Bucknell out of the cage over the last three-plus minutes of action.
Release courtesy United States Naval Academy Athletics Communications
