U.S. Naval Academy-vs.-Wagner College Scoresheet (MAWPC Championship Game 2)
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Isaac Salinas (So., Spring City, Pa./Malvern Prep) scored four times to collect Player of the Game accolades as the United States Naval Academy overcame an early deficit to deal Wagner College a 16-12 defeat in the opening round of the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.
The win places Navy (15-12 ,6-6 MAWPC-East) into a semifinal matchup at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 23, against the host/No. 13-ranked Bison of Bucknell. Bucknell earned its spot in the semis by escaping La Salle University, 13-10, in the opening game of the championship.
Overall, the win punches Navy’s ticket back into a championship semifinals for the first time since 2014 when the Midshipmen downed Harvard University, 15-10, at home in Scott Natatorium on November 21 during the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship. Navy fell in the tournament semifinals by a 6-3 count to Princeton University and head coach Luis Nicolao – who departed the Tigers and returned to his alma mater in Annapolis, Md., prior to last season.
Navy trailed through the majority of the first quarter as Oliver Fodor (Fr., Budapest, Hungary/Szent Istvan Gimnazium) staked Wagner (6-23, 4-8 MAWPC-East) to a 1-0 lead at the 6:14 of the opening frame. Salinas delivered a response at 5:27 by burying a man-up opportunity to balance the scoreboard at one-all, but Lachlan Trabinger (Sr., Canberra, Australia/St. Edmunds College) and Fodor converted six-on-five chances at 5:01 and 2:46, respectively, to provide the Seahawks a 3-1 margin. The Mids chipped their deficit down to a single tally prior to the close of the quarter as Will Clark (Fr., Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach) pumped in an even-strength shot at 2:20 to shrink the gap to 3-2.
Salinas tied the score and pushed Navy into the lead in the dawning moments of the second quarter by putting away natural markers at 7:02 and 5:56 to make it 4-3. Vuk Bulajic (So., Belgrade, Serbia/King’s College) retied the game at 5:42, but Jake Altmayer (Fr., Pasadena, Calif./Loyola), Cole Jacobs (Jr., Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) and Clark ticked off back-to-back-to-back strikes at 5:00, 3:35 and 2:40, respectively, to build a 7-4 lead for Navy.
Trabinger (2:09) and Fodor (nine seconds) delivered on power-play opportunities to inch Wagner back within one at 7-6, but Merle Richman (Fr., La Jolla, Calif./The Bishop School) beat the clock to put away an even-strength bid with one second remaining to make it 8-6 heading into halftime.
Following a strike by Fodor (7:31) to open the third quarter and once again move Wagner within one at 8-7, the Midshipmen began to seal the win as Bobby Lee (Jr., Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) (7:09, even-strength), Jacobs (6:35, man-up) and Kevin Volkov (Sr., Freehold, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) (5:35, even-strength) rolled off three consecutive goals to expand the margin to 11-7.
Trabinger (5:10, even-strength), Bulajic (4:41, penalty shot) and Fodor (3:55, even-strength) racked up a three-score run for Wagner to close within 11-10, but Jack Weggeland (So., Riverside, Calif./Riverside Poly) and Nate Reiff (Sr., Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) responded with natural markers at 3:32 and 2:54, respectively, to again construct the Mids’ lead to three at 13-10.
Fodor (2:03) and Salinas (1:40) exchanged blasts in the waning minutes of the third quarter to set the scoreboard at 14-11 in favor of Navy after 24 minutes of action.
The final eight minutes of competition saw drastically fewer scores compared to the third quarter’s 11 tallies.
Reiff (5:34) and Altmayer (1:24) found the back of the cage for Navy, while Karl Lovett (Fr., San Ramon, Calif./California) swished a man-up chance for the Seahawks (5:04) to close out the 16-12 victory by the Midshipmen.
For Navy, Salinas (four), Altmayer (two), Reiff (two), Jacobs (two) and Clark all netted multi-goal games, while Richman, Volkov, Lee and Weggeland tacked on solo strikes. In cage, Brandon Shields (Sr., Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) earned the start and made four saves with six goals allowed in the first half to pick-up the win. Max Sandberg (So., Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) closed out the win with six saves and six goals allowed in the second half.
Wagner – which will face La Salle at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 23, for a spot in the Fifth Place – received six goals from Fodor along with three by Trabinger. Bulajic tacked on a pair and Lovett notched a single score in support of a six-save effort by goalie Ethan Zirh (Fr., Sydney, Australia/Castle Hill).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Wagner College | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | – | 12 |
| U.S. Naval Academy | 2 | 6 | 6 | 2 | – | 16 |
| Navy Goals: | Isaac Salinas (4); Jake Altmayer (2); Nate Reiff (2); Cole Jacobs (2); Will Clark (2); Merle Richman; Kevin Volkov; Bobby Lee; Jack Weggeland | |||||
| Wagner Goals: | Oliver Fodor (6); Lachlan Trabinger (3); Vuk Bulajic (2); Karl Lovett | |||||
| Saves: | Navy – Brandon Shields (4, 16 minutes), Max Sandberg (6, 16 minutes) ; Wagner – Ethan Zirh (6) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Navy – 12 ; Wagner – 9 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Navy – 2-for-9 ; Wagner – 6-for-12 | |||||
| Sprints: | Navy – 1-for-4 (1st) ; Wagner – 3-for-4 (2nd, 3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Scott Voltz ; Mike Gordon | |||||
The United States Naval Academy’s Isaac Salinas (#6) attempts to get around Wagner College’s Vuk Bulajic (#2)
Wagner College’s Matthew Miller (#7) rears back as the United States Naval Academy’s Jake Altmayer (#5) defends
The United States Naval Academy’s Zach Lucci (#14) menaces Wagner College on defense
Andrew Shashin (#21) of the United States Naval Academy scans the tank as Wagner College’s Oliver Fodor (#10) defends
