LA JOLLA, Calif. — The No. 20-rankd United States Naval Academy water polo team split a pair of games on the second day of competition at the 2025 Triton Invitational hosted by the University of California-San Diego at the Canyonview Pool The Midshipmen were edged by No. 7 Pepperdine University, 14-12, in the opening game of the day, while the Mids thrived in the second contest by defeating Occidental College, 18-6.
“Today was a good day for us,” said head coach Luis Nicolao. “The first game didn’t go exactly the way we wanted it to go, but we pushed a top-10 team to the very end, coming up just a little short. In the second game, we had a lot of guys get some playing time and make a contribution to our first win of the season. In addition to a lot of guys scoring, we stepped up and played much better defense in game two.”
“We have played some good teams out here in California and we have two more big games tomorrow. I am looking forward to another day of top-notch competition before heading back to Annapolis.”
Offensively, Navy finished the day with 30 goals and 18 assists. Fifteen different Midshipmen found the back of the net on the day.
Connor Cashman led the team with five goals on the day for five points. Quinn Bartlett and Ramsay Letteau Stallings also added five points apiece, netting three goals with two goals each. Kiefer Black (3g 1a) and James Mulvey (2g 2a) followed with four points apiece, while Aiden Berry (2g 1a), Luka Sekulic (2g 1a) and Luke Kirincich (3a) finished with three points each. Rory Begin (2g), Billy Zech (2g), Orion Erwin (1g 1a) and Charlie Child (2a) added two points with Max Fino (1g), Maddox Garrahy (1g), Austin Kahn (1g), Jack Reif (1g), Holden Seybold (1g), Matt Mai-Prasarnsuk (1a) and Ryan Mondzelewski (1a) rounded out the Mids point scorers.
Navy used three goalkeepers on the day. Jack Rodoni finished the day with nine saves, seeing action in both contests. Jack Hightower notched four stops with Ryan Munch turning away three shots. Additionally, the Mids’ defense closed out the day with 31 steals. Seventeen Mids recorded a takeaway, including Black who led the way with four, while Bartlett and Munch added three apiece.
In the first game of the day, Navy and Pepperdine battled back and forth with the Waves edging the Midshipmen, 14-12.
Black scored two of the first three goals of the game to give the Midshipmen a 2-1 advantage. The Waves locked the score at 2-2, but Begin gave Navy a 3-2 lead through one quarter. Pepperdine started the second quarter with four straight scores to take a 6-3 advantage. Reif and Bartlett trimmed the margin to one, 6-5, at halftime.
In the second half, the Waves pushed the lead to 8-5 before Sekulic cut the margin back to two, 8-6. A penalty shot extended the Pepperdine advantage to 9-6, but Erwin trimmed the deficit to a pair. The Waves used back-to-back goals to up the lead to four before Kahn converted a penalty shot to cut the margin to three. Following a Pepperdine goal, Zech ended the third quarter with a goal. Letteau Stallings matched Pepperdine with two four-quarter goals, while Cashman cut the margin to two with a score. The Midshipmen were unable to close the gap, falling 14-12.
In the second game of the day, the Midshipmen jumped out to an early lead on the Tigers and never looked back as they cruised to an 18-6 victory.
Navy outscored Occidental, 3-0, in the first quarter thanks to goals by Seybold, Black, and Garrahy. The Tigers recorded their first tally in the second quarter, but Bartlett, Mulvey, and Zech closed out the half with a 3-0 run to take a 6-1 advantage into intermission.
In the third quarter, the Midshipmen pushed its advantage to 13-5. The Mids used goals by Bartlett, Berry, and Cashman to extend the lead to 9-1. Occidental scored the next two goals, but Begin put Navy into double figures, 10-3. Following a Tiger goal, Mulvey, Sekulic, and Cashman combined to score three of the next four goals to enter the final quarter of play ahead by eight. Navy outscored Occidental 5-1 in the final frame with Berry, Fino, Letteau Stallings and Cashman (2x) finding the back of the net in the fourth to provide the final margin, 18-6.
Release courtesy United States Naval Academy Athletics Communications
