No. 9 Fordham University & Wagner College Dock No. 17 United States Naval Academy, 17-11 & 15-10, in Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Empire State Clashes
BRONX/STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The No. 17-ranked United States Naval Academy water polo team dropped a pair of Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) games to start a road trip to New York. The Midshipmen opened the day, falling to the No. 9 Rams of Fordham University, 17-11, at the Col. Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center in the Bronx. Later in the day, the Mids were unable to overcome a second-quarter surge by Wagner College to drop a 15-10 decision to the Seahawks at the Spiro Sports Center in Staten Island.
“Today was frustrating,” said head coach Luis Nicolao. “I thought we played well at times, but we made too many mistakes and weren’t consistent enough to get the job done today. Fordham is a good team who is ranked in the top 10. We knew they would be tough, but we didn’t play consistent enough to get the win. Wagner is a solid team and use their shallow / deep pool to their advantage. Credit to them, they were able to make more plays than us and get the win. We have one more opportunity this weekend to improve tomorrow morning against Mercyhurst.”
Offensively, the Midshipmen were led by Kiefer Black who finished the pair of games with seven goals and three assists for a team-high 10 points. He was followed closely by Michael Heller. The senior tallied seven points on five goals and a pair of assists. Quinn Bartlett scored three goals and added an assist for four points. Holden Seybold added a pair of goals, while Luka Sekulic, Orion Erwin, Maddox Garrahy and Billy Zech each found the back of the net. Sekulic chipped in a pair of assists, while Erwin, Jack Rodoni, Austin Kahn and Rory Begin were all credited with helpers on the day.
Jack Hightower earned the start in both games at goal. The junior finished the day with 11 saves, while adding four steals. He gave way to Rodoni in the fourth quarter against Wagner.
In the first game of the day, the nationally-ranked Rams jumped out to a 2-0 advantage early. The Mids countered with goals by Sekulic and Zech to knot the score at two apiece. However, Fordham used a 3-0 run to close out the first quarter and take a 5-2 advantage into the second quarter.
The home team pushed the advantage to four goals to start the second quarter. Bartlett ended the 4-0 run with a goal, but the Rams answered with a score to extend the advantage back to four, 7-3. The Midshipmen used a 4-0 run of their own to knot the score at seven-all. Black opened the run with a pair of goals, including converting a five-meter opportunity. Bartlett notched his second goal of the quarter to pull the Mids to within one. Heller capped the run with a score to tie the game. Fordham was able to break the tie before halftime, taking an 8-7 advantage into intermission.
In the third quarter, Fordham outscored Navy, 4-1, to take a 12-8 lead into the final eight minutes of play. Erwin was the lone goal for the Midshipmen. Black scored a pair of goals in the fourth quarter to go along with a Bartlett score, but the Mids were unable to mount a comeback and fell to the top-10 Rams.
Against Wagner, Navy opened the game with a 3-0 run, but the home team countered with a 6-0 run to take control of the game and earn the win.
Black started the game with a goal to start the first quarter. Garrahy and Heller pushed the early advantage to 3-0. Wagner scored a goal before the end of the quarter to trim the Navy lead to two at 3-1. The Seahawks added five more scores in the second to take a 6-1 lead before Seybold stopped the run with a goal before halftime.
In the second half, Wagner continued to extend its advantage starting the third quarter with four straight scores to go up, 10-4. Seybold once again halted the run with a goal, but the Seahawks countered with a goal to end the third quarter. Black scored two of the first three goals of the fourth quarter to trim the margin to 12-7. Wagner extended the advantage to seven before Heller cut it to six. The Seahawks scored to extend their lead back to seven. Heller closed out the game with back-to-back scores to give him four in the game, but the Midshipmen ran out of time, falling 15-10.
Release courtesy United States Naval Academy Athletics Communications
