LA JOLLA, Calif. — The No. 20-ranked United States Naval Academy water polo team dropped a pair of games on the final day of the Triton Invitational hosted by the University of California-San Diego at the Triton Pool. The Midshipmen opened the day against No. 15 University of California-Santa Barbara, falling 12-7. In the afternoon game, the Mids battle hard before ultimately being edged by No. 6 Long Beach State University, 13-11.
“All in all, this was a good opening weekend,” said head coach Luis Nicolao. “Yes, it would’ve been nice to come home with a few more wins, but we were able to come together as a team; we played some tough competition; and we know what we need to work on to improve as the season progresses. The guys now know what it takes to compete against some of the best teams in the country. We have to take these lessons with us back to Annapolis and put in the work to improve to become one of those top teams.”
Ryan Munch put forth a stellar effort at goal for the Midshipmen. The sophomore tallied 22 total saves with back-to-back games with 11 stops. Additionally, Munch added three steals.
10 different Mids found the back of the net with five Navy players recording multiple scores on the day. Kiefer Black led the way with six points on a team-high three goals and a team-best three assists. James Mulvey and Orion Erwin matched Black with three goals apiece with Mulvey adding a pair of helpers. Matt Mai-Prasarnsuk and Billy Zech followed with two goals apiece. Luka Sekulic tied Black with three assists, while adding a goal for four total points. Aiden Berry, Maddox Garrahy, Jack Reif and Holden Seybold joined Sekulic with one goal apiece with Quinn Bartlett and Rory Begin closing out the points with an assist each.
In the first game of the day, UC-Santa Barbara benefited from a Navy scoring lull in the second half to claim a victory.
The Midshipmen jumped out to an early first-quarter lead. Black converted a penalty shot to put the Mids on the scoreboard. Following a UCSB goal, Navy used a 3-0 run that saw goals from Black, Mai-Prasarnsuk and Mulvey to take a 4-1 advantage through eight minutes. The Gauchos trimmed the margin to 4-3 with a pair of second-quarter goals, but Reif sent the Mids into halftime with a two-goal advantage at 5-3.
UC-Santa Barbara used a 4-0 third quarter to take the lead, 7-5. The Gauchos opened the fourth quarter with a 3-0 run before Mulvey and Sekulic scored back-to-back goals to cut the UCSB advantage to three. However, the Gauchos scored the final two goals of the game to claim a 12-7 win.
In the final game of the Triton Invite, Navy and Long Beach State battled hard against one another.
The Beach opened the scoring, but Seybold – the senior team captain – knotted the game at 1-1. LBSU regained the lead heading into the second quarter. Berry once again tied the score, but a pair of goals by Long Beach State gave the designated home team a 4-2 edge. Zech scored two of the next three goals to pull Navy to within 5-4, but the Beach pushed its lead to three at 7-4. Garrahy closed out the first half with a goal to cut the margin to a pair at 7-5 heading into the break.
In the third quarter, LBSU opened the scoring with a goal, but Mulvey converted a five-meter attempt to keep Long Beach State close. The Beach doubled its lead with back-to-back goals before Mai-Prasarnsuk found the back of the net. Erwin scored a goal in between a pair of LBSU goals to head into the final quarter down 12-8.
Long Beach State extended its advantage to five at 13-8, but Erwin (twice) and Black combined to score the next three goals to close the final gap to 13-11.
Information courtesy United States Naval Academy Athletics Communications
