PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Sophomore Isaac Salinas (Spring City, Pa.) notched a season-high seven goals to help the United States Naval Academy water polo team post a 21-13 victory over La Salle University in Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-East Region play at Kirk Pool.
“I thought we played well,” head coach Luis Nicolao said after the game. “Isaac obviously did great tonight, but more importantly, we were able to spread the ball around and get some people in the pool to get everyone involved. I thought we had some lapses defensively that allowed La Salle to score, but overall, I am extremely happy with how we played today.”
Salinas was joined by 10 Midshipmen who found the back of the net as 11 players scored goals in the game, including Bobby Lee (Santa Ana, Calif.) who also tallied a hat trick with three first-half goals. Trevor Clark (San Marcos, Calif.) and Will Clark (Laguna Beach, Calif.) each added two goals apiece.
In goal, senior captain Ronan Williams (Severna Park, Md.) worked the first half before giving way to fellow senior Brandon Shields (Lake Forest, Calif.) for the second half. Williams was charged with five goals allowed, while Shields surrendered eight. Both goalies were credited with six saves apiece in the game.
In the first quarter, Navy jumped out to an early lead. Lee put the Midshipmen on the scoreboard and Andrew Shashin (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) followed with a goal to push the lead to 2-0. Following a goal by the Explorers, Navy rattled off six straight goals to close out the first quarter and continue into the second frame. W. Clark, Nate Reiff (Wheeling, Ill.) and Merle Richman (La Jolla, Calif.) closed out the first quarter with goals, while Salinas (twice) and Lee opened up the scoring in the second to push the advantage to 8-1. La Salle stopped the run with a goal, but T. Clark responded with his first goal of the game. The Explorers trimmed the lead to 9-5 just before half, but Lee closed out the quarter with his third goal to send the game into intermission, 10-5.
In the second half, T. Clark scored to push the advantage to six, however, back-to-back goals by La Salle closed the gap to four, 11-7. Navy responded by scoring six of the next seven goals to break the game open. During the run, Jake Altmayer (Pasadena, Calif.) began the run. Salinas scored four of the next five goals by himself, while La Salle was able to sneak in a goal. W. Clark notched his second goal of the game, pushing the advantage to 17-8.
Up 17-9, Salinas scored his final goal of the game to double up the Explorers, 18-9. After a La Salle goal, Bobby Wall (San Mateo, Calif.), Connor Simpson (San Rafael, Calif.) and Graham Lindner (Bel Air, Md.) each scored to extend the edge to 21-10, but La Salle would score the final three goals of the game to provide the final margin of 21-13.
Release courtesy United States Naval Academy Athletics Communications
