Courtesy: Navy Athletics
SPRINGFIELD, Va. – The #10 Navy water polo team (1-0) used a five-goal third quarter and strong defense to post an 8-2 victory over George Washington (0-1) on Friday evening at the St. James Sport Complex in Springfield, Va.
“I am so excited for the guys,” head coach Luis Nicolao said after the game. “They have been waiting a long time to get in the pool and face someone other than ourselves. They came out tonight motivated and put together an impressive performance against a really good GW team. Max and the rest of the defense played well and almost got a shutout. We came out a little slow on offense, but found our groove in the third quarter and were able to break the game wide open. Hopefully, we can take this momentum into the rest of the weekend as we face George Washington again this weekend at home.”
Max Sandberg (Newport Beach, Calif.) earned the start at goal for the Midshipmen and posted an impressive performance. The junior recorded 13 saves, while surrendering just one goal. Freshman Caden Capobianco (Laguna Beach, Calif.) entered the game in the fourth quarter. In his first career action, the rookie recorded a pair of stops. The two goals allowed was the fewest given up by a Navy defense since the Mids posted a 22-1 victory over La Salle on Sept. 4, 2016.
Offensively, the Midshipmen tallied eight goals, including five goals in the third quarter. Senior captain Bobby Lee (Santa Ana, Calif.), sophomore Payton Comstock (Clarendon Hills, Ill.), and freshman Hayden Kahn (San Clemente, Calif.) each scored a pair of goals on the night. Cole Jacobs (Naperville, Ill.) and Connor Simpson (San Rafael, Calif.) added a goal apiece. Jake Altmayer (Pasadena, Calif.) and Jack Weggeland (Riverside, Calif.) paced the team with two assists apiece, while Comstock, Ivan Pang (El Monte, Calif.), Peter Hillen (Orinda, Calif.), and Andrew Shashin (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) added a helper each.
With just two and a half minutes until halftime, Jacobs broke the scoring drought to put Navy up 1-0, a lead the Mids would take into intermission.
The Midshipmen erupted for five goals in the third quarter to take control of the game. Lee posted back-to-back goals to push the advantage to 3-0. Kahn registered his first collegiate goal to extend the advantage to four. Simpson collected his first score of the season off of a redirect, and Comstock closed out the scoring in the frame to send the game into the final quarter with Navy up 6-0.
Comstock netted his second goal of the game to put the Mids ahead 7-0 early in the fourh quarter. George Washington prevented the shutout with a goal with 5:25 remaining in the game. Following a goalie change, the home team added a second goal to trim the margin to 7-2 with three minutes to play. Kahn provided the final margin of victory, 8-2, with his second goal of his first collegiate game.
Navy returns to the pool for its home opener against George Washington on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at Scott Natatorium. The Mids and Colonials close out the opening weekend of the season on Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. game.