Water Polo Outlasts Mount St. Mary's for First MAWPC Win of Season

David M. Higgins II, Publisher/Editor

Sep 30

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy water polo team (6-6, 1-0) opened Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference play with a 16-13 victory over Mount St. Mary's (8-4, 3-3) on Tuesday night at Scott Natatorium. Nathan Duchez (San Jose, Calif.) recorded his first hat trick of the season to lead the offensive attack, while Caden Capobianco (Laguna Beach, Calif.) finished with 11 saves on defense.

"It is always good to get your first conference win of the season," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "It wasn't the prettiest of wins, but we will take it. We were able to get a pretty good lead so we were trying to get people into the game because we are going to need them at some point during the season. We struggled with some of our personnel at times, but we were still able to win. Not a lot of time to think about this one because we have to get ready for GW and Wagner this weekend."

Offensively, ten different Midshipmen were able to score, including five who registered multiple goals. Duchez led the offensive charge with his first hat trick of the season and the second of his collegiate career. Peter Hillen (Orinda, Calif.), Hayden Kahn (San Clemente, Calif.), Tommy McKnew (Tiburon, Calif.), and Connor Simpson (San Rafael, Calif.) added two goals apiece, while Travis Berzins (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), Graham Lindner (Bel Air, Md.), Ivan Pang (El Monte, Calif.), Will Clark (Laguna Beach, Calif.), and Kyle Yelensky (Stamford, Conn.) rounded out the scoring.

Henry Williams (San Diego, Calif.) and Pang paced led the team with four and three assists, respectively.

Defensively, Capobianco worked a majority of minutes between the posts for the home team. The junior recorded 11 saves, while surrendering 10 goals. In addition, he added a pair of steals and an assist on the night. He gave way to Owen Gurich (Long Beach, Calif.) who made his first appearance of the season in the fourth quarter. Clark led the team with three steals, while Kahn finished with four ejections drawn.

Mount St. Mary's was the first team to score in the first quarter, sneaking one into the back of the goal. Hillen responded with his first game goal to knot the score at 1-1. The Mount regained the lead, but Simpson answered with the equalizer. Lindner gave Navy its first game lead, stealing a Mount pass and racing past the defense for the goal.

Navy extended its lead in the second quarter with three straight goals to start the period. Berzins notched his first goal, while Hillen found the back of the net for the second time. Rounding out the 3-0 run was Duchez who scored off of a Williams pass. The Mount converted a five-meter attempt to end Navy's run, but McKnew countered with his first goal of the night to extend the advantage to 7-3. Following a Mountaineer goal, the Midshipmen closed out the half with goals by Kahn and Simpson to push the lead to 9-4 at intermission.

The third saw Navy outscore the Mount, 5-4 in the period. McKnew started the scoring with a goal, but the Mountaineers answered. Pang increased the lead to six, 11-5, but a five-meter goal by MSM trimmed the margin back to five. Yelensky and Clark went back-to-back with goals to extend the advantage to 13-6, consecutive scores by Mount St. Mary's trimmed the margin back to five, 13-8. With time winding down, Kahn muscled his way to a goal in the middle to give Navy a 14-8 advantage through three quarters.

Duchez started the fourth quarter to give Navy a 15-8 cushion. Four straight scores by the visitors closed the gap to 15-12, but Duchez responded with his third goal of the night to push the lead to four. With time winding down, Mount St. Mary's scored, but Navy preserved the victory, 16-13.

Navy returns to action this weekend as the Midshipmen travel to Washington, D.C. for a game against George Washington (Sunday, 10:00 a.m.) before returning to Scott Natatorium for an afternoon contest against Wagner (Sunday, 3:00 p.m.). The game between the Midshipmen and the Seahawks will be live streamed Stretch Internet.

In addition, fans can follow Navy water polo on social media. For all in-game action, follow the Midshipmen on Twitter at @NavyWaterPolo. For more information on the Mids water polo team, follow them on Instagram (@NavyWaterPolo) and Facebook (@NavyWaterPolo).