ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The No. 19-ranked United States Naval Academy water polo team split a Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-East Region doubleheader at home in Lejeune Hall. The Midshipmen opened the day with an 18-5 victory over Division III No. 5 Johns Hopkins University before being edged 11-10 by George Washington University. With the win over Hopkins, the Midshipmen clinched the No. 2 seed in the MAWPC Championship slated for next weekened in Lejeune Hall on Friday-Sunday, November 19-21.
“Today was a good day,” said head coach Luis Nicolao. “We were able to get the No. 2 seed in the Tournament. We honored our seniors. And we were able to get a lot of people into the pool. We came out strong in the first game and jumped out to a big lead. That allowed us to empty the bench and get everyone into the game. Before the second game, we recognized the seniors before their final regular season game at home. We have a great group of seniors who have meant a lot to this program so to be able to recognize them is special. We have a road game tomorrow against Mount St. Mary’s and then we get to host the conference tournament next week.”
Prior to the second game of the day, Navy recognized its seniors – John Bernhardt (manager), Tristan Fugimura (manager), Nick Grinnell (Pikesville, Md.), Kenny McKinlay (Aiea, Hawaii), Isaac Salinas (Spring City, Pa.), Max Sandberg (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Jack Weggeland (Riverside, Calif.) – for their contributions to the program over the last four years.
Offensively, the Midshipmen scored 28 goals in two games on the day (14.0 goals per game). Fifteen different Mids scored on the day, including six with multiple goals. Tiernan Brunner (Timonium, Md.) led the offensive attack with five goals, including a hat trick. Grinnell and Danny Taylor (Riverside, Conn.) added four goals apiece. Grinnell recorded a hat trick in the first game, while Taylor was balanced with two scores in each game. Erik Nordquist (San Diego, Calif.), Salinas, and Henry Williams (San Diego, Calif.) each chipped in two goals on the day.
Defensively, all four of Navy’s goalies – Caden Capobianco (Laguna Beach, Calif.), Sandberg, Owen Gurich (Long Beach, Calif.) and Jonas Greer (Los Angeles, Calif.) – saw action on the day. Capobianco started against Johns Hopkins, working the first quarter with three saves and a steal. Sandberg played the second quarter against the Blue Jays, while starting and working the first quarter against the Colonials. Sandberg finished the day with 10 saves (five in each game) and two steals. Gurich and Greer each worked two and a half quarters of action on the day. Gurich was between the posts for the third quarter against Hopkins and one and a half quarters against GW. The sophomore made eight saves with a steal. Greer finished the day with nine stops.
Navy opened up the day with an 18-5 victory over Johns Hopkins. The Mids jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as the Midshipmen secured the No. 2 seed in the upcoming MAWPC Championship with the win.
Offensively, twelve different Midshipmen scored goals in the game, including players with multiple goals. Brunner and Grinnell each recorded hat tricks, leading the team with three goals apiece. Salinas and Taylor followed with two scores each.
Defensively, Navy used all four goalies on the roster with each keeper logging a quarter between the posts. Capobianco started the game at goal, recording three saves and a steal with two goals allowed. Sandberg worked the second quarter, notching five stops and a steal with no goals allowed. In the third quarter, it was Gurich in the cage, finishing with a steal and a save. Greer closed out the game, working a clean quarter with four saves and no goals allowed.
Navy was the first team to score as Salinas got things rolling for the Midshipmen with his first goal. Following a pair of scores by Johns Hopkins, Salinas knotted the game at 2-2 with his second goal of the day. Payton Comstock (Clarendon Hills, Ill.) and Ivan Pang (El Monte, Calif.) followed with back-to-back five-meter goals before Tommy McKnew (Tiburon, Calif.) closed out the first quarter with a goal to give Navy a 5-2 advantage.
In the second quarter, it was all Midshipmen as the home team outscored the visitors, 7-0, in the period. Connor Simpson (San Rafael, Calif.) opened the quarter with a goal and Nathan Duchez (San Jose, Calif.) followed by finding the back of the net. Travis Berzins (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) dunked the ball into the net to put Navy in front 8-2. Brunner scored the first of his three goals of the quarter to extend the advantage to seven. Taylor scored to give the Mids 10 goals and Brunner completed the one-quarter hat trick with back-to-back scores.
Johns Hopkins trimmed the margin in the third quarter with three goals, while Williams notched the only goal for Navy in the frame.
The Midshipmen closed out the game with a 5-0 run. Grinnell scored the first of this three goals to start the fourth quarter. Nordquist continued the scoring to push the advantage back to double digits, 15-5. Taylor pushed a ball past the keeper for Navy’s 16th goal of the day. Grinnell closed out the scoring with back-to-back goals to complete his fourth-quarter hat trick and provide the final margin of 18-5.
In the second game, the Midshipmen were edged by one by the Colonials. George Washington led four on four separate occasions, but three straight goals to close out the game put Navy within striking distance of knotting the game.
Offensively, Brunner and Taylor led the way with two goals apiece, marking the duo’s second multi-goal performances of the day. Sullivan Lundy (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Sean O’Boyle (Steilacoom, Wash.), along with Grinnell, McKinlay, Nordquist, and Williams, also contributed goals.
Sandberg earned the start at goal for the Midshipmen. He finished with five saves and three goals allowed before giving way to Gurich. The sophomore worked a quarter and a half, registering seven saves, surrendering five scores. Greer was in the cage for the final quarter and a half. He finished with five stops, allowing three.
Grinnell started the scoring in the game, notching his fourth goal of the day to put Navy in front 1-0 early. Williams followed to push the advantage to two for the Mids. George Washington responded with three goals to close out the first quarter and two goals to start the second to take a 5-2 lead. Taylor and Brunner netted back-to-back goals to pull the Mids to within one, but a GW score sent the game into halftime with the visitors in front, 6-4.
In the second half, George Washington rattled off a pair of goals to extend its advantage to four before O’Boyle buried the ball in the back of the net. The Colonials responded to push the lead back to four, but Nordquist closed out the third quarter with a goal. The fourth quarter saw GW extend the advantage to four, but Taylor trimmed the margin to three. Once again, a George Washington score gave the visitors an 11-7 edge. Navy used a 3-0 run with goals by McKinlay, Lundy (five-meter), and Brunner to pull to within one, but were unable to net the equalizer, dropping the one-goal decision.
Release courtesy United States Naval Academy Athletics Communications
