ANNAPOLIS, Md. — United States Naval Academy goalie Francis Kim (Jr., Houston, Texas/Clear Lake) made 15 saves to claim Player of the Game notice as the Midshipmen brought their 2017 season into port at home in Lejeune Hall with a 9-5 defeat of Division III No. 2-ranked Johns Hopkins University in the Fifth-Place game of the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship.
Navy (10-16, 1-9 MAWPC-East Region) never trailed in the game to run out to a game-high five goal lead with 2:30 left in the third quarter on the way to a four-score final margin of victory against the Blue Jays.
The game marked the third meeting of the year between the age-old nemeses as Navy took a 10-4 win in Annapolis on October 1 and Johns Hopkins returned the favor on October 21 in Baltimore with an 11-10 win in sudden death overtime.
Navy never trailed in the game as Ian Bagent (Sr., Norcross, Ga./Norcross) torched the cage for a tally with 1:27 remaining in the first quarter.
JHU tied the score 41 seconds into the second quarter when Finn Banks (So., Portola Valley, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) slipped a shot into the cage at 7:19. However, the Midshipmen, similar to United States Navy great John Paul Jones, had not begun to fight as Matt Skowronski (Sr., Oak Hill, Va./Gonzaga College) and Jake Haines (Fr., Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) finished man-up chances at 6:50 and 5:19, respectively, to surround an even-strength strike by Bagent (5:34) in widening the gap between the teams to 4-1.
Banks put away his second score of the quarter at 4:17 to move JHU within 4-2, but Taylor Bernhardt (Jr., Annapolis, Md./Loyola Blakefield) and Crawford Smith (Fr., Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) converted six-on-five opportunities at 1:52 and 1:20, respectively, to set Navy’s lead at 6-2 going into halftime.
The Midshipmen continued to broadside the Blue Jays to commence the third quarter as Nate Reiff (So., Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) jammed in a man-up chance at 5:10 and Kevin Volkov (So., Freehold, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) dropped in a natural score at 2:30 to flip the scoreboard to 8-2 in favor of the home team.
Johns Hopkins attempted to climb back into the contest as Banks (2:05, man-up) and Giorgio Cico (Jr., San Anselmo, Calif./Redwood) (1:23, even-strength) converted on opportunities in the final two minutes of the third quarter to move within 8-4.
Josh Kurtz (Jr., El Cajon, Calif./Granite Hills) further shrank JHU’s deficit to 8-5 with 7:02 remaining in the fourth quarter, but Gabe Gaspar (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) executed the Blue Jays’ comeback hopes with a marker at the 5:12 mark for the 9-5 final score.
For Navy, Bagent scored twice to lead the way with Gaspar, Bernhardt, Skowronski, Reiff, Volkov, Haines and Smith each tacking on single goals. Player of the Game Francis Kim (Jr., Houston, Texas/Severna Park) posted 15 saves to earn the win.
Across the tank, Banks netted a hat-trick with three goals, while Kurtz and Cico both recording single scores. Goalie John Wilson (Sr., Hillsborugh, Calif./Menlo School) took the loss with 13 saves.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Division III No. 2 Johns Hopkins University | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | – | 5 |
| United States Naval Academy | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | – | 9 |
| Navy Goals: | Ian Bagent (2); Gabe Gaspar; Taylor Bernhardt; Matt Skowronski; Nate Reiff; Kevin Volkov; Jake Haines; Crawford Smith | |||||
| Johns Hopkins Goals: | Finn Banks (3); Josh Kurtz; Giorgio Cico | |||||
| Saves: | Navy – Francis Kim (15) ; Johns Hopkins – John Wilson (13) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Navy – 8 ; Johns Hopkins – 7 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Navy – 5-for-7 ; Johns Hopkins – 2-for-8 | |||||
| Sprints: | Navy – 4-for-4 ; Johns Hopkins – 0-for-4 | |||||
| Officials: | Scott Voltz, Val Vasilchikov | |||||
Photo 1: United States Naval Academy’s Francis Kim (#1) makes a save against Johns Hopkins University’s Giorgio Cico (#2); Photo 2: Johns Hopkins University’s Nico Ivanov (#16) looks to shoot as the United States Naval Academy’s Bobby Lee (#15) defends; Photo 3: United States Naval Academy’s Jack Robinson (#3) looks to get rid of the ball as Johns Hopkins University’s Giorgio Cico (#2) closes in; Photo 4: United States Naval Academy’s Matt Skowronski (#11) attempts to get around Johns Hopkins University’s Josh Kurtz (#7)
