Game 1 – St. Francis College vs. Johns Hopkins University

St. Francis College, the 2005 Northern Division champion and #1 seed, opened defense of their 2005 Eastern Championship crown with a 14-7 victory over #8 seed Johns Hopkins University in the opening game of the 2006 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Championship hosted by Princeton University.

Leading 8-2 at halftime, the Terriers saw their lead dwindle to 11-7 by the end of the third period as Hopkins outscored St. Francis 5-3 in the third to close within striking distance.

However, the Terriers' defense and goalie Dusko Radovanac, the 2006 All-North first team netminder, grounded the Blue Jays' offense and held Hopkins scoreless over the final period of play while Bogdan Petrovic (4:24), Carlos Omana (2:32) and Milos Vuksic (1:43) added tallies for the seven goal win.

St. Francis never trailed in the game as 2006 CWPA North Player of the Year Botond Szalma scored the tournament's first goal with 6:29 left in the first period. Vuksic followed with a score on an exclusion for a 2-0 lead at the 6:02 mark before Hopkins' Alex Bond pulled the Blue Jays back to within a goal with 4:41 to play. However, the Terriers answered with an exclusion goal at 2:06 as Nemanja Pucarevic beat JHU goalie Chris Hutchens with a high shot for a 3-1 lead after a period of play.

The lead grew to 8-1 with 2:44 left in the second period as Szalma (7:25), Omana (6:21), Pucarevic (4:33) and Michael Vasilchikov (2:44) found the back of the cage with even-strength goals, while Vuksic (5:26) tacked on an exclusion goal.

Johns Hopkins trimmed the margin back to six goals by the break as Kyle Gertridge scored for the Blue Jays with 2:12 left in the period.

JHU took flight in the third period as Sean McCreery and Peter Davis registered tallies at 7:33 and 7:04, respectively, before the teams traded goals with Pucarevic scoring at 6:47 for the Terriers and McCreery answering at 6:20 for the Blue Jays.

However, St. Francis took control of the period after McCreery's goal as Omana (6:00, 00:38) and Vuksic (3:28) netted goals while the Terriers' defense held JHU to a score by McCreary at 2:10 for an 11-7 lead entering the fourth period.

Vuksic led the way for St. Francis in the game scoring four goals, while Omana and Pucarevic tacked on hat-tricks as the Terriers will face the winner of a first round game between Harvard University and Princeton University in the second round. For JHU, McCreery netted a hat-trick as the Blue Jays will square off with the loser of the Harvard-Princeton clash.

In goal, Radovanac finished nine shots for St. Francis and Hutchens made six saves for Hopkins.

St. Francis Goals: Milos Vuksic (4); Carlos Omana (3); Nemanja Pucarevic (3); Botond Szalma (2); Michael Vasilchikov; Bogdan Petrovic

Johns Hopkins University Goals: Sean McCreery (3); Alex Bond; Peter Davis; Kyle Gertridge; David Strickland

St. Francis Goalie Saves: Dusko Radovanac (9)

Johns Hopkins Goalie Saves: Chris Hutchens (6)

Ejections: St. Francis 7, Johns Hopkins 13

Sprints: St. Francis 2, Johns Hopkins 2

Milos Vuksic looks to pass versus Peter Davis (#7) & Sean McCreery (#8)

Game 2 – Princeton University vs. Harvard University

Chris Kelsch lofted a shot into the upper right corner of the goal cage which eluded Havard University goalie Jay Connolly as the Princeton University Tigers rallied to knockoff the Crimson 9-8 in the opening round of the 2006 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Championship hosted in Princeton's Denunzio Pool.

In a game which Harvard led 3-0 early in the second period, the Tigers roared back behind the play of Kelsch who finished with a hat-trick, while Brendan Colgan and Reid Joseph added pairs of goals, as Princeton will meet #1 seed and defending CWPA Eastern Champion St. Francis College at 7:00 p.m. with a bid to the championship game on the line.

Tied 6-6 entering the fourth period, Princeton took the lead at 7-6 with 7:02 to play as Nicholas Seaver found the back of the cage. Harvard answered less than a minute later as Chris Ludwick scored at the 6:30 mark to tie the game at 7-7.

The scoreboard equality lasted until the 2:02 mark as Joseph pumped the ball before dropping a pass to Colgan who fired a exclusion opportunity shot which deflected off the right hand of Connolly and sliced into the goal inside the near post for an 8-7 lead. Again, the Crimson responded as John Voith loosed a scoring attempt with two seconds left on the shot clock which slipped under the cross bar and inside the left post with 23 seconds on the clock to set-up an apparent overtime period before Kelsch's heroics.

The game was all Harvard in the early going as the Crimson jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead behind scores by Alessandro Lazzarini (7:06) and Michael Byrd (3:34). The margin grew to 3-0 in the second period when Spencer Livingston scored an exlcusion goal at the 4:58 mark, but the Tigers clawed their way back into the game with a pair of exlcusion goals by Colgan (4:24) and Kelsch (3:21). Harvard regained a two goal lead with 56 seconds left in the first half when Michael Garcia scored, but the Tigers responded immediately with a goal by Joseph with 31 seconds for a 4-3 Harvard lead at halftime.

The teams exchanged goals in the third as Kelsch scored at 5:32 on an exclusion to draw the teams even at 4-4. Lazzarini (3:45), Princeton's Victor Wakefield (2:48) and Egen Atkinson (1:45) scored to keep the Crimson ahead 6-5 before Joseph scored with 50 seconds left in the period to set up the dramatic fourth period.

In goal, Scott Syverson made seven saves to earn the win for Princeton, while Connolly stopped 10 shots in taking the loss.

Harvard will continue the tournament at 4:00 p.m. versus Johns Hopkins University which fell to St. Francis College 14-7 in the opening game of the Eastern Championship.

Princeton Goals: Chris Kelsch (3); Brendan Colgan (2); Reid Joseph (2); Victor Wakefield

Harvard Goals: Allesandro Lazzarini (2); Chris Ludwick (2); Egen Atkinson; Michael Byrd; Michael Garcia; Spencer Livingston

Princeton Goalie Saves: Scott Syverson (7)

Harvard Goalie Saves: Jay Connolly (10)

Ejections: Princeton 8, Harvard 13

Sprints: Princeton 4, Harvard 0

Chris Kelsch prepares to release his game-winning shot

Game 3 – US Naval Academy vs. MIT

Mike Mulvey and 2006 CWPA South Player of the Year Aaron Recko scored hat-tricks as the United States Naval Academy handled the Massachusetts Institute of Techonolgy 13-7 in the opening round of the 2006 Collegiate Water Polo Association Eastern Championship hosted by Princeton University.

Navy, which claimed the South Division title this year, never trailed in the game as the Midshipmen opened an 11-2 lead and never looked back on their way to the second round.

The teams were close in the first period of play as as Engineers jumped out to a 1-0 lead behind a goal by Mike Smith Bronstein at the 6:06 mark, but Navy fired back to knot the game at 1-1 under two minutes later as Bram Arnold beat Rob Truax at 4:25. MIT regained the lead 29 seconds later as Rob Kalwarowsky stuck a shot inside the near post for a 2-1 lead, but again the Midshipmen steered themselves out to a 3-2 lead as Mulvey and Recko found the back of the cage at 3:35 and 1:20, respectively.

Navy controlled the second period outscoring MIT 7-0 courtesy multiple fast break opportunities for a 10-2 halftime lead as Kevin Bell and Recko tacked on pairs of scores in the frame.

The Midshipmen finished off their 10-0 scoring run in the opening minutes of the third period as Mulvey placed a shot under the crossbar for an 11-2 lead.

MIT attempted to rally in the game cutting the lead to 11-4 courtesy scores by Kevin Amendt at 6:44 and 3:26, but Navy added an insurance goal by Andrew Bingham to carry a 12-4 lead into the fourth period as MIT scored three goals to the Midshipmen's one for the 13-7 final score.

Amendt, Mark Artz and Kalwarowsky led the way for the Engineers with pairs of goals, while Bell and Arnold tacked on pairs of goals for Navy.

In goal, George Naughton picked up the win for Navy making four saves in the first half. Steve Craney and Brett Rajchel finished off the victory making one and two saves in the third and fourth periods, respectively.

Navy will next play at 8:30 p.m. versus the winner of a first round game between Brown University and Bucknell University to advance to the title game. MIT will square off with the loser of the game at 5:30 p.m.

Navy Goals: Aaron Recko (3); Mike Mulvey (3); Bram Arnold (2); Kevin Bell (2); Andrew Bingham; Andrew Plumb; Dan Zoellick

MIT Goals: Kevin Amendt (2); Mark Artz (2); Rob Kalwarowsky (2); Mike Smith Bronstein

Navy Goalie Saves: George Naughton (4); Steve Craney (1); Brett Rajchel (2); Dominic Valentini (0)

MIT Goalie Saves: Nick Souza (3)

Ejections: Navy 10, MIT 10

Sprints: Navy 2, MIT 2

Andrew Plumb shoots against Nick Souza in the first half

Game 4 – Brown University vs. Bucknell University

Bucknell University's Jason Rechel scored four goals to lead six different Bison scorers as Bucknell defeated Brown University 9-7 in the final game of the opening round of the 2006 CWPA Eastern Championship.

The Bison never trailed in the game as Bucknell built a 5-0 lead in the first half and never looked back.

Josh Sunday and Rechel opened the scoring for Bucknell registering goals at the 5:28 and 2:16 marks of the first period, respectively.

The margin grew to 5-0 in the second period as Rechel scored at 6:39 and 1:46, while Mark Masterson netted a marker at 3:39. Brown brokeup the shutout attempt with 1:31 left in the half as Mike Gartner put home a score for a 5-1 game at halftime

The Bears attempted a comeback in the second half, outscoring the Bison 6-4 over the final 16 minutes of play, but Bucknell's held on for the two goal win.

A key to the game was penalty shots as Brown converted two five meter shots to climb back into the game. Trailing 8-4 with under four minutes to play in the fourth period, Gerrit Adams pulled the Bears to within three goals at 8-5 with a penalty shot. Following a goal by Rechel to push the lead back out to 9-5, Brown sliced the margin down to three goals again as Adams finished off a hat-trick with a penalty shot goal at the two minute mark.

In goal, Kent Holland made 12 saves for Brown, while Luke Belensy stopped six shots for Bucknell

Bucknell will continue the tournament at 8:30 p.m. versus the United States Naval Academy for a berth in the title game. Brown will next face MIT at 5:30 p.m.

Brown Goals: Gerrit Adams (3); Mike Gartner; Zach Levko; Luke Samson; Stu Thompson

Bucknell Goals: Jason Rechel (4); Sean Robinson; Josh Sunday; Mark Masterson; Gabriel Heiber; Chet Eimstad

Brown Goalie Saves: Kent Holland (12)

Bucknell Goalie Saves: Luke Belenky (6)

Ejections: Brown 3, Bucknell 10

Sprints: Brown 1, Bucknell 3

Gabriel Heiber looks to shoot over Brown's Gerrit Adams

Game 5 – Harvard University vs. Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University's Sean McCreery and Peter Davis combined for seven goals as the Blue Jays defeated Harvard University 11-7 to advance to the fifth place game at the 2006 Collegiate Water Polo Association Eastern Championship hosted by Princeton University.

Trailing 1-0 after a goal by the Crimson's Spencer Livingston with 5:31 left in the first period, the Jays turned up the pressure and tallied five straight goals over the next nine minutes to take a 5-1 lead into halftime.

Hopkins started the run with 3:24 left in the first period as McCreery collected a rebound off a missed shot and deposited over the shoulder of Harvard goalie Jay Connolly to knot the game at 1-1. Peter Sauerhoff put the Blue Jays in front to stay with 17 ticks left on the period clock as his blast from outside sliced an inch inside the near post.

The run continued in the second period as McCreery scored off a double ejection for a 3-1 lead at 5:27. Forty-four seconds later, Davis placed a shot over the left shoulder of Connolly which sailed into the upper right 90 of the cage for a 4-1 lead before finishing a penalty shot at 3:11 for a 5-1 lead at intermission.

Harvard pulled back to within a pair of goals in the opening minutes of the third period as Michael Garcia and John Voith found the back of the cage at 7:42 and 4:58, respectively. However, Hopkins countered with a 4-0 run to build the lead out to 9-3 with 7:13 left in the fourth period.

Leading 10-4 after the teams traded goals, JHU saw its lead trimmed back to four goals at 10-6 as Garcia scored at 6:23 and buried a penalty shot at 2:45. Needing a stop to squelch the Harvard comeback attempt, the Blue Jays sealed the win by scoring off a fast break opportunity with 1:16 to play as Joey Jankiewicz steered a shot into the goal for an 11-6 lead. Egen Atkinson finished off the scoring for the Crimson finishing a feed with a minute to play for the 11-7 final.

In goal, Connolly made nine saves for Harvard in the loss, while Mitch Williams stopped five shots to take the win.

Harvard will next be in action at 9:00 a.m. in the seventh place game on Sunday, November 12 versus the loser of a second round game between Brown University and MIT. Hopkins will meet the winner of that game at 10:30 a.m. in the fifth place game.

Johns Hopkins Goals: Sean McCreery (4); Peter Davis (3); Peter Sauerhof (2); Chris Hemmerle; Joey Jankiewicz;

Harvard Goals: Michael Garcia (3); Spencer Livingston; John Voith; Alessandro Lazzarini; Egen Atkinson

Johns Hopkins Goalie Saves: Mitch Williams (5)

Harvard Goalie Saves: Jay Connolly (9)

Ejections: Johns Hopkins 7, Harvard 11

Sprints: Johns Hopkins 1, Harvard 3

Peter Davis attempts a penalty shot versus Jay Connolly in the first half

Game 6 – Brown University vs. MIT

Grant LeBeau and Hank Weintraub scored hat-tricks as Brown University built a 10-0 lead and rolled to an 11-3 victory over the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the second round of the 2006 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Division Championship at Princeton University.

Courtesy the win, Brown University will continue the tournament at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, November 12 versus Johns Hopkins University in the fifth place game, while MIT will take on Harvard University at 9:00 a.m. in the seventh place game.

For the Bears, six different players scored, including a pair of goals by Zach Levko, as Brown took a 7-0 lead by halftime and outscored the Engineers 4-3 in the second half for the eight goal win.

The victory echoes the last time the teams met as Brown knocked off MIT 11-5 on September 28 in CWPA regular season action.

For MIT, the Engineers outscored Brown 4-1 in the fourth period on a pair of goals by Mike Smith Bronstein and a solo score by Devin Lewis.

In goal, Kent Holland was nearly untouchable for Brown recording 15 saves to earn the win, while Nick Souza stopped five shots for MIT.

Brown Goals: Hank Weintraub (3); Mike LeBeau (3); Zach Levko (2); Gerrit Adams; Mike Gartner; Luke Samson

MIT Goals: Mike Smith Bronstein (2); Devin Lewis

Brown Goalie Saves: Kent Holland (15)

MIT Goalie Saves: Nick Souza (5); Patrick Alayon (1)

Ejections: Brown 9, MIT 6

Sprints: Brown 0, MIT 4

Grant LeBeau shoots over Palmer Rosemond

Game 7– St. Francis College vs. Princeton University

Nicholas Seaver finished a pass from Zach Beckman and Eric Vreeland with 59.74 seconds left in the second overtime period as the #4 seed Princeton University Tigers stunned #1 seed and defending Eastern champion St. Francis College 11-10 in the semifinals of the 2006 Collegiate Water Polo Association Championship hosted by the Tigers in DeNunzio Pool.

The game saw a litany of comebacks by both teams

The game appeared to be one-sided in the early going as the Terriers built a 4-0 lead with 6:41 left in the second period as Milos Vuksic and Bogdan Petrovic scored even strength goals at at 4:44 and 3:32 of the first period before Botond Szalma put home a goal on an exclusion opportunity with five seconds left in the first period for a 3-0 lead through eight minutes of play. The lead grew to four 79 seconds into the second period as Petrovic buried a penalty shot.

However, the Tigers clawed their way back into the game as Seaver threaded a pass to Brendan Colgan who beat Terriers' goalie Dusko Radovanac over his right shoulder on an exclusion opportunity to trim the margin to 4-1 with 5:34 left in the first half. Seaver found the back of the net himself with 4:02 remaining by bouncing a shot off the water and into the cage to move to within 4-2. Beckman got into the act at 3:06 pumping his arm six times before ripping a shot into the upper left 90 of the cage to move to within 4-3 before Chris Kelsch whipped a shot across the goal mouth and inside the left post to knot the score at 4-4 with 2:28 left in the half.

St. Francis regained the lead at the 2:09 mark as Petrovic buried a penalty shot, but Princeton answered back 79 seconds later when Kelsch loosed a shot which deflected off the water in front of the cage and inside the left post with 50 seconds left in the first half for a 5-5 tie at halftime.

Revitalized, Princeton came out growling in the third period scoring back-to-back exclusion goals at 7:24 and 4:53 by Colgan and Beckman, respectively, before Colgan added an even strength goal at 3:53 to go in front 8-5. St. Francis cut the lead back to a pair of goals with 2:46 left in the period as Petrovic scored on an exlcusion chance to cut the margin to 8-6.

The Terriers moved back to within a score with 5:40 left in regulation as Petrovic netted an even strength goal to open the fourth period. The Tigers responded as Seaver scored at 5:10, but the Terriers answered when Vuksic beat Scott Syverson for a 9-8 Princeton lead with 3:40 on the clock.

Seaver scored again with 2:39 to play to give the Tigers a 10-8 lead, but St. Francis refused to roll over as Petrovic scored at 1:29 to move to within 10-9.

Regulation ended in dramatic fashion as Petrovic unleashed a desperation shot which eluded Syverson and tied the score at 10-10 with one second remaining on the game clock and set up heroic performances by Radovanac and Syverson in overtime.

Following a scoreless first overtime period which saw Syverson and Radovanac both make two saves, the Tigers broke through with 59.74 seconds left on the clock as Vreeland passed from the right to the center to Beckman who fired a pass across his body to the arm of Seaver who put a shot over Radovanac's head for the eventual game-winner.

Syverson sealed the win for the Tigers as he stopped a shot with 20 seconds left on the clock which allowed Princeton to run out the clock and move into a title game showdown versus the winner of a semifinal game between Navy or Bucknell University.

The Tigers will play in the title game at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 12 with a berth in the NCAA Final Four at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles on December 2-3 on the line, while St. Francis will face the loser of the Navy-Bucknell match in the third place game at noon.

St. Francis Goals: Bogdan Petrovic (7); Milos Vuksic (2); Botond Szalma (1)

Princeton Goals: Nicholas Seaver (4); Brendan Colgan (3); Zach Beckman (2); Chris Kelsch (2)

St. Francis Goalie Saves: Dusko Radovanac (12)

Princeton Goalie Saves: Scott Syverson (10)

Ejections: St. Francis 11, Princeton 8

Sprints: St. Francis 3, Princeton 3

Milos Vuksic drives to the Princeton goal and keeper Scott Syverson

Game 8 – United States Naval Academy vs. Bucknell University

Aaron Recko, Mark Masterson and Mike Mulvey netted hat-tricks as the United States Naval Academy handled Bucknell University 11-8 to advance to the title game of the 2006 Collegiate Water Polo Association Eastern Championship at Princeton University.

The Midshipmen will take on the host Tigers at 1:30 p.m. with a berth in the NCAA Final Four at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles on December 2-3 on the line, while Bucknell will face St. Francis College in the third place game at noon.

The title game will mark the second time that Navy and Princeton will play each other for the Eastern title as the Midshipmen previously won the 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 2000 and 2003 Eastern titles, while Princeton previously captured the 2004 crown. In 2003, Navy knocked off Princeton for the title.

Navy took a 5-4 lead by the end of the first half as Bram Arnold (6:23), Recko (2:11) and Mulvey (1:05) put in goals for a 3-3 tie after the first period before Arnold (4:34) and Andrew Plumb (3:55) netted scores in the second period.

The teams played to ties at 5-5 and 6-6, but the Midshipmen went on a 2-0 run for some breathing room as Eric Gardiner and Andrew Bingham drove to the goal for scores at the 4:02 and 00:27 marks of the third period for a two goal lead entering the final eight minutes of play.

Princeton sliced the margin to a goal at 8-7 with 6:59 left in the fourth period, but the Midshipmen responded as Mulvey scored at 4:58. The Bison trimmed it back to a goal again at 4:36 as Mark Masterson scored his third goal of the game, but Navy's Andrew Plumb and Mulvey finished off the victory with goals at 3:35 and 1:24, respectively.

Navy Goals: Mike Mulvey (3); Andrew Plumb (2); Aaron Recko (2); Bram Arnold (2); Eric Gardiner; Andrew Bingham

Bucknell Goals: Sean Robinson (3); Mark Masterson (3); Jason Rechel; Josh Sunday

Navy Goalie Saves: George Naughton (9)

Bucknell Goalie Saves: Luke Belenky (6)

Ejections: Navy 10, Bucknell 6

Sprints: Navy 4, Bucknell 0

Eric Gardiner defends against Bucknell

Game 9 – Harvard University vs. MIT

Six different Havard University players scored as the Crimson knocked off the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 7-3 in the seventh place game on the final day of the 2006 Collegiate Water Polo Association Eastern Championship hosted by Princeton University.

Trailing 1-0 following a goal by MIT's Phil Cassel at 5:14 of the first period on an exclusion opportunity, the Crimson ripped off a 4-0 run before halftime to carry a three goal lead into the break.

Spencer Livingston started the run for Harvard at 3:51 before Michael Byrd buried a shot with 43 seconds left in the first period to take a 2-1 lead.

The margin grew at 4:21 of the second period as Alessandro Lazzarini netted a score and again at 2:57 as Byrd finished a crossing pass for a 4-1 lead.

MIT attempted to cut into the margin to open the third as Devin Lewis scored at 5:41 and 3:45, but Harvard answered both times on goals by Brian Kuczynski at 4:58 on an exlcusion and at 2:52 with an even strength goal by Michael Garcia for a 6-3 lead at the end of the third period.

Both teams' defenses locked down in the fourth frame as neither offense was able to change the scoreboard until Garcia slipped a shot into the cage with 36 seconds left on the clock for the 7-3 final score.

In cage, Jay Connolly made five saves for the Crimson, while Nick Souza stopped seven shots for MIT.

Harvard Goals: Michael Byrd (2); Mike Garcia (2); Brian Kuczynski; Alessandro Lazzarini; Spencer Livingston

MIT Goals: Devin Lewis (2); Phil Cassel

Harvard Goalie Saves: Jay Connolly (5)

MIT Goalie Saves: Nick Souza (7)

Ejections: MIT 4, Harvard 7

Sprints: MIT 0, Harvard 4

Jay Connolly stops a shot

Game 10 – Johns Hopkins University vs. Brown University

Gerrit Adams, Hank Weintraub, Nico Fort and Grant LeBeau scored pairs of goals as the Brown University Bears held off Johns Hopkins University 12-11 in the fifth place game at the 2006 Collegiate Water Polo Association Eastern Championship at Princeton University.

The Bears put the game away in the first period as six Brown players found the back of the goal with shots as Adams (6:02), LeBeau (2:53), Luke Samson (1:58), Zach Levko (1:20) and Mike Gartner (00:19) netted even strength goals, while Nico Fort (3:55) tacked on an exclusion marker, to take a 6-2 lead through eight minutes of play.

Hopkins saw their deficit grow in the second period as Brown outscored the Blue Jays 4-3 to carry at 10-5 lead into halftime.

JHU rallied in the opening minutes of the third period as Sean McCreery scored twenty seconds in to pull the Blue Jays to within four goals. Alex Bond chipped in another goal 27 seconds later as he beat his defender and ripped a shot into the left side of the goal to move to within 10-7.

The teams traded goals as Hank Weintraub deked his defender and blasted a shot to put the Bears back up by four goals, but Hopkins put in the next two scores as Kyle Gertridge and McCreery tallied goals at 5:40 and 5:02, respectively, to shave the lead to 11-9.

Brown responded with an exlcusion goal at 3:59 by Weintraub, but Johns Hopkins appeared primed to rally for the comeback win as the Blue Jays' Chris Hemmerle and Reid Fox scored at 2:40 and 1:10 to set up a 12-11 Brown lead entering the fourth period.

However, the Bears' defense held off Hopkins in the fourth as neither team was able to score for the one goal margin of victory.

In goal, Chris Hutchens made five saves for JHU, while Kent Holland blocked away four shots to earn the win.

Brown Goals: Gerrit Adams (2); Hank Weintraub (2); Nico Fort (2); Grant LeBeau (2); Mike Gartner; Zach Levko; Luke Samson; Stu Thompson

Johns Hopkins Goals: Sean McCreery (3); Chris Hemmerle (3); Alex Bond (3); Reid Fox; Kyle Gertridge

Brown Goalie Saves: Kent Holland (4)

Johns Hopkins Goalie Saves: Chris Hutchens (5)

Ejections: Brown 3, Johns Hopkins 5

Sprints: Brown 1, Johns Hopkins 3

Grant LeBeau rises to shoot over David Strickland (#13) and Sean McCreery (#7)

Game 11 – St. Francis College vs. Bucknell University

Bogdan Petrovic and Botond Szalma scored hat-tricks as St. Francis College claimed third place with an 11-7 win over Bucknell University at the Eastern Championship hosted by Princeton University.

St. Francis, the defending Eastern champion, used a 6-0 run from 5:55 of the third period to 5:32 of the fourth period to take an 11-4 lead as the Terriers cruised to the title from there.

Petrovic started the run for St. Francis scoring at 5:55 of the third before Michael Vasilchikov tacked on a score at 4:42 and Nemanja Pucarevic tallied an exlcusion goal with 54 seconds remaining in the period for an 8-4 lead with eight minutes to play.

The Terriers built the lead out to seven goals in the first three minutes of the fourth period as Szalma, Carlos Omana and Filip Kisdobranski registered goals at 7:29, 6:30 and 5:32, respectively.

Bucknell closed the gap with a trio of goals in the closing minutes of the game as Randy Ang scored even strength goals with 3:14 and 54 seconds remaining and Mark Masterson buried a penalty shot with 2:27 to play, but the lead was too much to overcome as the St. Francis defense stiffened and time grew short.

In goal, Dusko Radovanac made nine saves to earn the win for the Terriers. Luke Belenky took the loss for Bucknell with eight saves.

Bucknell Goals: Randy Ang (3); Mark Masterson (2); Jason Rechel; Sean Robinson

St. Francis Goals: Botond Szalma (3); Bogdan Petrovic (3); Carlos Omana (2); Nemanja Pucarevic; Michael Vasilchikov; Filip Kisdobranski;

Bucknell Goalie Saves: Luke Belenky (8)

St. Francis Goalie Saves: Dusko Radovanac (9)

Ejections: Bucknell 4, St. Francis 6

Sprints: Bucknell 3, St. Francis 1

Dusko Radovanac deflects a shot wide

Game 12 – Princeton University vs. United States Naval Academy

George Naughton made 10 saves, including six in the second half, as the United States Naval Academy rallied from a 5-4 halftime deficit to knock off Princeton University 9-6 in the title game of the 2006 Collegiate Water Polo Association Eastern Championship hosted by Princeton University.

With the win, Navy earns a berth in the NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship "Final Four" at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles on December 2-3.

The title marks Navy's seventh Eastern championship as the Midshipmen previously won the 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 2000 and 2003 Eastern titles, while Princeton previously captured the 2004 crown. In 2003, Navy also knocked off Princeton for the title.

The hero of the game for Navy was Naughton, who playing with a wrapped right hand, repeatedly stiffled the Tigers' offensive hopes to help his team overcome a 5-1 Princeton scoring run late in the second period and rally for the win.

Trailing at halftime, the Midshipmen went to their big guns as Mike Mulvey rattled the Tigers' cage with a shot which beat Princeton goalie Scott Syverson with 5:55 left in the third period. The shot ignited Navy as Mulvey scored a penalty shot at 5:02, Bram Arnold drilled a shot from the outside at 3:54 and Mulvey finished off a third period natural hat-trick at 2:36 with a goal after Princeton's Gregor Horstmeyer was excluded for an 8-5 Midshipmen lead.

The Tigers attempted to claw their way back into the contest as Douglas Wigley beat Naughton with 48 seconds left in the period after Arnold was excluded, but Navy blockaded the goal in the fourth quarter behind the play of Naughton and received some offensive support as Arnold capped the victory with a goal 43 seconds into the period for the 9-6 final score.

The story of the game was scoring spurts as the Midshipmen built a 3-0 lead to open the game, saw their lead turn into a deficit by halftime and rallied for the comeback victory.

In the first period, Andrew Plumb opened the scoring as he buried a shot on an exlcusion opportunity with 3:53 left in the period for a 1-0 lead. The margin grew to 2-0 before the end of the first eight minutes of play as Aaron Recko pumped and fired a shot which found the back of the cage with 53 seconds remaining in the frame.

Navy continued the run into the second period as Recko scored again with 5:18 remaining until halftime to give the Midshipmen a 3-0 lead.

However, the Tigers, like any cat, had nine lives as Reid Joseph broke up the shutout attempt at 4:46 with a give-and-go score on an exlcusion opportunity. Princeton cut the lead to a goal over a minute later as Joseph broke through the Navy defense and unleashed a shot for a 3-2 deficit with 3:41 remaining on the clock.

Navy countered as Eric Gardiner put the Midshipmen back in front by a pair with a score at 3:25, but the Tigers pounced as Zach Beckman split the defense for an even strength goal at 2:59 and an exclusion goal at 1:40, after Gardiner was excluded, to knot the game at 4-4.

Needing a stop to enter halftime tied or leading, and halt Princeton's momentum, the Midshipmen were torpedoed by luck as Recko was excluded with 58 seconds remaining in the half and Nicholas Seaver capitalized with a goal at the 42 seconds mark for a 5-4 Tigers lead at the break.

Following the game, Navy coach Mike Schofield and Recko were named the Coach and Most Valuable Player of the Tournament.

Princeton Goals: Zach Beckmann (2); Reid Joseph (2); Nicholas Seaver; Douglas Wigley

Navy Goals: Mike Mulvey (3); Aaron Recko (2); Bram Arnold (2); Eric Gardiner; Andrew Plumb

Princeton Goalie Saves: Scott Syverson (10)

Navy Goalie Saves: George Naughton (10)

Ejections: Princeton 5, Navy 10

Sprints: Princeton 1, Navy 3

George Naugthon saves a shot by Nicholas Seaver in the second period

2006 CWPA Eastern Champion - United States Naval Academy

Navy Head Coach Mike Schofield & the 2006 Navy coaching staff