Black Out: No. 20 the United States Naval Academy Summits Against Mount St. Mary’s University, 19-15, to Reach 2024 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Semifinals
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Player of the Game Kiefer Black (So., San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) scored six goals and dished out seven assists as No. 20-ranked/host the United States Naval Academy overcame a 10-5 deficit with 2:36 left in the second quarter to muscle past Mount St. Mary’s University, 19-15, in the fourth and final first round game of the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship.
Competing at home in Lejeune Hall, Navy (21-9, 11-4 MAWPC) exploited 8-3 and 5-2 scoring advantages in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, to stop Mount St. Mary’s (5-28, 3-12 MAWPC) for the third time in 2024 following regular season 21-7 (September 7) and 15-13 OT (October 26) victories in Annapolis.
Trailing by five with 2:36 remaining in the first half, the Midshipmen began to climb back into the contest as Black put away a shot with 51 seconds left in the second half to inch Navy back to within four at 10-6.
Billy Zech (So., Tiburon, Calif./Redwood) closed the gap to 10-7 32 seconds into the third quarter (7:28). Alexandros Bellesis (Jr., Athens, Greece/Vouligmeni Lyceum) responded for the Mountaineers at 6:57 to return the lead to four at 11-7. Rory Begin (Jr., Bakersfield, Calif./Garces Memorial) countered for Navy at 6:46 and Aaron Tarr (So., Johannesburg, South Africa/Westville Boys) did the same for the Mount at 6:17 as the margin shrank and expanded from three (11-8)-to-four (12-8).
The game began to turn in favor of the home team as Orion Erwin (Fr., Encinitas, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) punched in back-to-back strikes at 5:56 and 5:24 to move the Mids within a pair at 12-10. Quinn Bartlett (Fr., Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) put his squad on the doorstep of tying the game at 12-all by spinning in a shot with three minutes left in the third quarter to inch Navy within one at 12-11.
Bellesis (2:48) and Zech (2:34) traded goals as the spread expanded to 13-11 and retraced to 13-12 prior to Sam Collingwood (So., Orlando, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) completing the comeback by torquing home a tally with 2:03 on the clock to deadlock the teams at 13-all.
Navy acquired its inaugural lead of the contest prior to the final horn in the third quarter as Luka Sekulic (So., Haverford, Pa./The Haverford School) lined in a shot with 1:29 remaining in the frame to stake the Midshipmen to a 14-13 margin heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
Mount St. Mary’s balanced the scoreboard 39 seconds into the fourth quarter as Jack Fox (So., Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter Community) put away an equalizer at the 7:21 mark to square the squads at 14-all. It marked the final time the Mountaineers were level or ahead of Navy as Henry Williams (Sr., San Diego, Calif./Steele Canyon) notched consecutive man-up strikes (5:40, 5:05) to put the Mids back in front to stay at 16-14.
Bellesis converted a penalty shot at 4:46 to trim Navy’s lead down to one at 16-15, but Black (3:29, penalty shot; 2:27, even-strength) and Wiliams (40 seconds, man-up) insulated the lead to 19-15 prior to the concluding horn.
The game did not appear destined for a Navy victory in the first half as the Mountaineers raced out to a 3-0 spread courtesy scores by Tarr (7:02), Drasko Sekaric (Gr., Kotor, Montenegro) (6:37) and Chrysostomos Valavanis (Jr., Athens, Greece/Leonteio Lykeio Neas Smirnis) (5:08) in the opening three minutes of the contest.
Black (4:46) and Erwin (4:16) answered for the Mids to close the gap to 3-2, but Zach Fischer (Sr., Chicago, Ill./De La Salle Institute) doubled up the home team 4-2 with 3:17 left to play in the first eight minutes.
Black delivered a retort at 1:56 to shrink Navy’s deficit back to one at 4-3 prior to back-to-back heaves from Michael Lemishko (Sr., Wayne, Pa./Upper Merion) (1:35) and Sekaric (1:23) tickling twine to again double-up the Midshipmen 6-3.
Black once again answered for Navy by stuffing a ball into the cage with 1:01 remaining in the first quarter to inch the Mids back to within two at 6-4.
Tarr pushed the lead back to three at 7-4 with 6:36 left in the second quarter prior to Austin Kahn (Fr., San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) chopping the spread back to a pair at 7-5 with 5:42 to go in the first half. The Mountaineers appeared to begin pulling way for good as Sekaric punched in man-up (5:12) and natural (4:21) markers prior to Fischer doubling up Navy at 10-5 with an even-strength score at 2:36 to set the stage for the Midshipmen’s comeback win.
For Navy – which previously claimed Second (2021 at home; 2023 at Bucknell University), Third (2019 at Bucknell), Fifth (2017 at home; 2022 at Fordham University) and Sixth (2016 at Bucknell, 2018 at Fordham) in the team’s seven most recent tries at the MAWPC title – Black (six), Erwin (three), Williams (three) and Zech (two) contributed multi-goal games. Collingwood, Begin, Bartlett, Kahn and Sekulic each notched solo strikes to support a five save effort by goalkeeper Ryan Munch (Fr., San Diego, Calif./Valhalla).
Across the tank, Sekaric (four), Tarr (three), Bellesis (three) and Fischer (two) combined for 12 of Mount St. Mary’s 15 goals with Fox, Lemishko and Valavanis accounting for the remainder. Joseph Maxson (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Westminster) took the loss with four saves.
Courtesy the win, Navy advances to the tournament semifinals where the home team will host George Washington University – a 12-8 victor over Division III No. 10 Johns Hopkins University in an earlier contest – at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 23. The Mids finished 1-1 against the Revolutionaries during the regular season with a 13-12 loss October 25 at the Long Bridge Park Aquatics & Fitness Center in Arlington, Va., and an 11-7 win on November 9 in Annapolis at Lejeune Hall.
Due to the defeat, Mount St. Mary’s will take on Johns Hopkins at 2:30 p.m. on November 23 with a berth in the Fifth Place game in the jackpot. The Mountaineers – who previously claimed Eighth (2021), Ninth (2022) and Seventh (2023) at the MAWPC Championship – split the regular season series against the Blue Jays with a 16-10 win at home in Emmitsburg, Md., October 13, prior to a 15-13 setback on the road in Baltimore, Md., on October 26.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Mount St. Mary’s University |
6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | – | 15 |
| No. 20 United States Naval Academy | 4 | 2 | 8 | 5 | – | 19 |
| Navy Goals: | Kiefer Black (6); Orion Erwin (3); Henry Williams (3); Billy Zech (2); Sam Collingwood; Rory Begin; Quinn Bartlett; Austin Kahn; Luka Sekulic | |||||
| Mount St. Mary’s Goals: | Drasko Sekaric (4); Aaron Tarr (3); Alexandros Bellesis (3); Zach Fischer (2); Jack Fox; Michael Lemishko; Chrysostomos Valavanis | |||||
| Saves: | Navy – Ryan Munch (5) ; Mount St. Mary’s – Joseph Maxson (4) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Navy – 9 ; Mount St. Mary’s – 16 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Navy – 4-for-16 ; Mount St. Mary’s – 2-for-9 | |||||
| Sprints: | Navy – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) ; Mount St. Mary’s -2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Navy – YC (Luis Nicolao, 2:30 left in 2nd Q); Mount St. Mary’s – MV (Ayden Hess, 2:16 left in 3rd Q), MAM (Alexandros Bellesis, 2:36 left in 2nd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | James Wolff, Alex Larin | |||||
The United States Naval Academy’s Kiefer Black (#11) defends Mount St. Mary’s University’s Aaron Tarr (#18)
Mount St. Mary’s University’s Aaron Tarr (#18) attempts to get a pass over the United States Naval Academy’s Austin Kahn (#13)
The United States Naval Academy’s Kiefer Black (#11) looks for an opening as Mount St. Mary’s University’s Drasko Sekaric (#7) pursues
