Vahey & Bell Key No. 13 Navy Past No. 20 Princeton 13-7 for 2009 ECAC Men's Water Polo Title

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Playing in the first of potentially five meetings this season, the No. 13-nationally ranked United States Naval Academy used hat-tricks by Chris Vahey (Jr., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Northeast) and Kevin Bell (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) to overcome No. 20 ranked and host Princeton University for the 2009 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Men's Water Polo Championship at DeNunzio Pool.

Both Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Southern Division teams, the Midshipmen and Tigers will meet twice more during the regular season in round-robin division play before potentially squaring off at the Southern Division Championship Tournament and/or the Eastern Championship Tournament.

The final score of the game is misleading as the two programs were tied at 4-4 during halftime and later 5-5 with 6:07 left in the third period before the game began to turn in Navy's favor.

Tied at five-all, the Midshipmen rattled off back-to-back-to-back scores as Jordan Carter (Jr., Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Groves) (6:07), Vahey (4:06) and Stevie Ray (So., Baytown, Texas/Ross S. Sterling) (3:37) found the back of the cage to build an 8-5 margin for Navy over Princeton.

However, the Tigers clawed their way back into the contest as Tim Wenzlau (Fr., Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) and Eric Vreeland (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) converted six-on-five opportunities at 2:23 and 1:04, respectively, to pull Princeton back to within a goal at 8-7.

The score would be the last of the day for the Tigers as the Navy defense embargoed the cage and the offense unleashed a five goal barrage down the stretch to overpower Princeton.

Leading by one in the closing minute of the third period, Vahey added the eventual game-winner as he buried a shot with 14 seconds remaining in the period for a 9-7 Navy lead entering the fourth period.

Johnny Meiners (Sr., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) chipped in a pair of markers in the final period with strikes at 6:06 and 1:58, while Luke Baldwin (Jr., La Grange Park, Ill./Fenwick) and Vahey tacked on solo scores a minute a part at 3:53 and 2:53, respectively, as the Midshipmen outscored Princeton 5-0 over the final nine minutes of play.

Navy played all but 12:27 of the game without 2009 Eastern Championship Most Valuable Player Kyle Wertz (So., San Diego, Calif./Westlake), who netted the first goal of the game with 3:20 left in the first period to give the Mids a 1-0 advantage, but was rolled out of the contest with a brutality at 3:33 of the second period.

Overall, the game was nip-tuck until Navy's three-goal spurt in the third period as the Mids opened up a 2-0 lead with 1:01 left in the first period, following a score by Ray, before seeing the margin halved with three seconds left in the opening period with a marker by Wenzlau.

The margin expanded to 3-1 with a goal by Bell at 4:28, but the Tigers fought back to knot the score at 3-3 following tallies by Mark Zalewski at 3:33 and 3:05. 

Navy and Princeton traded scores to the halftime horn as Bell and Nick Pugliese (So., Washington, D.C./Gonzaga College) punched in goals for their respective teams to even the scoreboard at 4-4 by halftime and set-up the dramatic second half finish.

In cage, the Midshipmen received eight saves by Brett Rajchel (Sr., Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park) and one by Chase Hansen (So., Newberg, Ore./Newberg) in a reserve role, while the Tigers' Mike Merlone (Jr., Atherton, Calif./The Menlo School) and Scott Hvidt (Sr., Los Gatos, Calif./St. Francis) combined for six stops.

For their performance during the championship weekend, Rajchel and Meiners were named Co-Outstanding Players of the Tournament.

The title marks the first ECAC Men's Water Polo Championship in the history of the Navy program in three title game appearances (2006, 2007, 2009) and snaps a five-year winning streak (2004-08) by St. Francis College (N.Y.) which was unable to compete this year.  In the history of the championship, only St. Francis (2000, 2004-08), University of Massachusetts (2001), Queens College (2002), Princeton (2003) and now Navy have won titles.

Princeton Goals: Tim Wenzlau (2), Mark Zalewski (2), Gregor Horstmeyer, Eric Vreeland, Douglas Wigley
Navy Goals: Kevin Bell (3), Chris Vahey (3), Johnny Meiners (2), Stevie Ray (2), Luke Baldwin, Kyle Wertz, Jordan Carter
Princeton Saves: Mike Merlone (5), Scott Hvidt (1)
Navy Saves: Brett Rajchel (8), Chase Hansen (1)
Princeton 6-on-5: 3-for-8
Navy 6-on-5: 1-for-3