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No. 13 Navy Defeats Princeton & George Washington; Tigers Claim Southern Division-East Region Title
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- For the United States Naval Academy Midshipmen, Navy won the battle but lost the war for the Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division-East Region title as the No. 13-ranked Mids held its two league foes to just six combined goals in a pair of victories on Sunday, October 18. Navy topped 17th-ranked Princeton, 5-3, before defeating George Washington, 11-3, in the nightcap. The victories move Navy's record to 15-8 overall and 4-2 in the CWPA Southern Division.
Although Princeton lost to Navy, the Tigers won the bigger prize than an individual game as the Tigers, which stand two games in front of Navy and are tied with Bucknell at 6-2 for first place in the division, wins the Southern Division-East Region title.
Navy, which still has league games at Johns Hopkins University and George Washington University next weekend, is unable to win the regular season title as the Mids and Bucknell both lose all tie-breakers to Princeton for the division title.
If Navy were to finish 6-2 and force a three-way tie with Princeton and Bucknell at the top of the standings, the Midshipmen will finish second in the division due to the league's second tiebreaker of goal-differential.
Princeton, which defeated Navy 7-3 and fell to the Mids 5-2 today, also split with the Bison as the Tigers downed Bucknell 12-5 and fell to the herd 10-9 for a combined goal differential of +8 (31 goals for vs. 23 goals against) against Navy and Bucknell.
Navy, which defeated and fell to Princeton (5-3 W, 7-3 L) and Bucknell (10-7 W, 12-11 L), is even (29 goals for vs. 29 goals against) in goal differential, while Bucknell also split against Navy (12-11 W, 10-7 L) and Princeton (10-9 W, 12-5 L) for a -8 goal differential (34 goals for vs. 42 goals against)
If the Midshipmen finish 6-2 in the division schedule, the runner-up position will be decided by goal differential between Navy and Bucknell head-to-head. Since Navy defeated the Bison 10-7 and fell to Bucknell 12-11, the Mids would capture the No. 2 slot courtesy a +2 advantage in goal differential.
However, if either Hopkins or George Washington, which will enter their meetings with Navy possessing 1-5 and 0-6 division records, respectively, upset Navy, then the Bison will earn the runner-up spot in the Southern Division-East Region standings due to a better win/loss record.
Although Bucknell and Princeton alone would be tied at the top of the division standings if Navy is upset by GW or JHU, the Tigers will still win the title as Princeton defeated and fell to the Bison (12-5 W, 10-9 L) for a +6 goal differential.
Entering today's games with a
chance to win the division title by running the table the rest of
the way, the Midshipmen held Princeton to convert just 1-of-9
extra-man chances in defeating the Tigers for the second time in
three tries this year. Outside division play, Navy defeated
the Tigers 13-7 in Princeton for the 2009 Eastern College Athletic
Conference (ECAC) Championship.
"Defensively, we did an excellent job. Holding an opponents to
just three goals is an outstanding effort," said Navy head coach
Mike Schofield. "Offensively, we scored five, but
squandered about 10. That continues to be our big drawback. We will
definitely take the win, but we need to do a better job with our
chances."
Five different players (Kevin Bell,
Johnny Meiners, Conor Handley,
Stevie Ray and Kyle Wertz) scored
one goal each for Navy against Princeton, while goalie
Brett Rajchel stopped four shots in goal to earn
the victory.
In the day's second game, an 11-3 victory over George Washington,
the Mids were again outstanding on defense, limiting the Colonials
to just one first-half goal.
Four seniors (Drew
Kollmann, Meiners, Joe Moffit and
Scott Simeral) all scored one goal, while
Luke Baldwin, Jason Peck,
Chris Vahey, Matt Carlson,
Handley and Wertz also tallied one goal, while Ray netted a
pair.
In goal, Rajchel stopped six shots in the first half, while senior
Dominic Valentini stopped five shots in the second half.
